EPA proposals would disrupt US market
14th October 2025
USA: The manufacturers’ association, AHRI, has warned that EPA proposals to roll back refrigerant phase-out dates would disrupt US manufacturers’ planning and re-open the market to outdated, high-GWP equipment.
The EPA proposals, seek to delay or eliminate some future deadlines under the AIM Act’s 2023 Technology Transitions Rule. The existing rule restricts the use of high-GWP refrigerants in newly manufactured equipment. It applies by sector and sub-sector, such as residential and light commercial air conditioning, supermarket refrigeration, refrigerated transport, and other categories.
The new proposed rule would change the January 1, 2027, GWP limit on retail refrigeration equipment to 1400, from its original limit of 150 or 300, depending on charge size and equipment configuration. The new start date for GWP limits of 150 or 300 are to be shifted to January 1, 2032. The same applies to remote condensing units except the original date was January 1, 2026, not 2027.
It is also proposes that the rule for cold-storage warehouses of a GWP limit of 150 or 300, depending on charge size and equipment configuration, be rolled back from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2032.
The proposals also call to eliminate, altogether, the December 31, 2025, deadline to ban the installation of residential and light commercial using R410A in equipment manufactured or imported prior to January 1, 2025.
The AHRI points out that most high GWP refrigerants are currently manufactured abroad, and lower GWP refrigerants are manufactured in the United States.
“While AHRI staff and members are reviewing the proposed rule and will have extensive comments by the deadline, we have several well-established positions on the existing rule promulgated in 2023,” said AHRI senior VP of government affairs Samantha Slater.
The AHRI argues that delaying the technology transitions rule dates would disrupt multi-year planning and investment by US manufacturers, many of whom have already retooled production, certified new equipment, and built supply chains around the current schedule.
It says that maintaining the current dates would avoid duplicative costs, dual inventories, and confusion in the marketplace. Delays would force manufacturers and distributors to manage redundant product lines and training programmes.
It also sees the possibility of delays re-opening the US market to “outdated”, high-GWP equipment, giving foreign manufacturers a competitive advantage and creating a patchwork of requirements across jurisdictions.
“Over time, delays would increase costs for manufacturers, distributors, contractors, and end users. Staying on schedule lowers costs, supports investment recovery, and ensures affordable, energy-efficient equipment for consumers,” the AHRI stated.
In contrast, the US contractors’ group, ACCA, has said that the proposal to do away with the deadline to eliminate R410A in residential and light commercial AC could provide “welcome relief” in view of the R454B supply chain issues the US industry experienced this year.
However, ACCA says that while it appreciates the EPA’s urgency in seeking solutions to the shortages, it remains concerned that states will respond to these changes with a “worsening patchwork” of state refrigerant regulations.
“One of ACCA’s top legislative priorities is to minimise disruption from refrigerant transitions by working to preempt state refrigerant regulations. We continue to urge Congress and the Trump Administration to enact federal preemption under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act to fulfil the law’s original promise of an orderly refrigerant transition,” it says.
The EPA will hold a public comment period and a virtual hearing on the proposals. The ACCA says that its priority will be to avert a patchwork of state regulations by advocating for federal pre-emption.
“Whether or not the rollback is finalised, the industry will continue to move toward lower-GWP refrigerants,” it added.
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