Updated May 21, 2026, 2:53 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on May 21 overhauled two Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency rules for refrigerants in a push the White House claims will lower grocery costs for consumers.
One action, reported first by USA TODAY, delays deadlines for groceries and other companies to phase out the use of climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons for refrigeration under the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule.
Hydrofluorocarbons, used for refrigeration and cooling, are considered “super pollutants” that, although short-lived in the atmosphere, are more powerful than carbon dioxide.
The move is expected to make more refrigerants ‒ the key chemical compounds in freezers, refrigerators and air-conditioning systems ‒ available for supermarkets, homeowners and other businesses, which the White House estimates will produce $900 million in savings, including $800 million at groceries.
The EPA also took steps to amend the 2024 Emissions Reduction and Reclamation program to exempt all road refrigerant appliances used to transport goods from new leak requirements for hydrofluorocarbons. The White House projects an additional $1.5 billion in savings from this change.
No formal guarantees from grocery stores to pass savings to customers
Trump announced the EPA changes at an Oval Office event, with executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly Fareway Stores and other grocery chains standing behind the president.
Although grocery companies have not made any binding commitments to pass the cost-savings to consumers, Kroger CEO Greg Foran said his company is “right in the middle of doing that at the moment.”
“We’re concerned about the cost of living. It makes a big difference when you get your pricing right,” Foran said.
Sitting behind the Resolute Desk, Trump railed on the refrigerant regulations as a “tremendous burden” and “a tremendous cost” that was driving up food prices at grocery chains. He said grocery stores have been forced to shift to energy-efficient refrigerators that he claimed don’t work as well.
“It was a very catastrophic thing that they did,” Trump said, adding that he plans to later repeal the entire rule phasing out hydrofluorocarbons in refrigerants. “We have to get rid of the law that was signed quite a while ago, because ultimately we want to make it permanent.”
Trump brushes off environmental impact
When the hydrofluorocarbon phaseout was approved under former President Joe Biden in 2023, the EPA warned of greenhouses gases that have “global warming potentials that can be hundreds to thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide.”
The Biden-led EPA estimated the rule would reduce emissions equal to 876 million tons of carbon dioxide through 2050, producing $50.4 billion savings through climate-change mitigation and an additional $5.4 billion in savings by shifting to cheaper hydrofluorocarbon substitutes.
Trump, who has gutted much of Biden’s climate agenda, brushed off environmental concerns. “It’s not going to have any impact on the environment,” Trump said.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who was on hand for the White House event, said the refrigerant rules adopted by the Biden administration “didn’t protect human health or the environment and instead piled on costly, unattainable restrictions beyond what the law requires.”
“Our actions allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them, saving them billions of dollars. This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices,” Zeldin said in a statement.
The Trump administration has repealed or overhauled an assortment of Biden and Obama-era environmental and climate rules as part of an aggressive deregulation agenda.
The latest moves come as the Trump administration is working to highlight actions aimed at reducing costs for Americans amid surging inflation that poses a political liability for Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.
The consumer price index surged 3.8% in April, the largest increase in inflation in three years, as a result of increasing oil costs stemming from the U.S. war in Iran.
Grocery prices were up 2.9% in April over the previous year after increasing 0.7% from the previous month.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
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