President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a rollback of Biden-era refrigerant regulations, arguing the changes will lower grocery prices, reduce air-conditioning costs and ease financial pressure on businesses and consumers.
At a White House event alongside grocery executives and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Trump said the administration was terminating “costly requirements on refrigerators and air conditioners” that increased the cost of transporting and storing refrigerated goods.
“These regulations needlessly and substantially increased the price of transporting and storing refrigerated goods, driving up the price of food and other items Americans buy every day,” the White House said in a fact sheet released Thursday.
The EPA finalized revisions to the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule and proposed changes to the 2024 Emissions Reduction and Reclamation Rule. The administration said the changes would expand access to lower-cost refrigerants and delay compliance requirements for businesses.
Trump said the reforms would save Americans more than $2.4 billion annually.
“Today’s reforms will deliver significant financial relief, saving American families and businesses more than $2.4 billion,” Trump said during the event.
The White House said the changes could save supermarkets more than $800 million and protect over 350,000 jobs. The administration also estimated transporters of refrigerated goods could save up to $1.5 billion.
Industry Push
Trump and several grocery operators argued the earlier rules forced stores to replace functioning refrigeration systems with more expensive equipment.
Kroger CEO Ron Sargent said an “orderly transition” of refrigeration equipment would reduce both capital and operating costs, allowing retailers to focus on keeping grocery prices lower.
Kevin McDaniel, a Piggly Wiggly franchise owner, said replacing refrigeration systems could have cost some stores between $800,000 and $1.5 million per location. He warned that smaller operators could have been pushed out of business.
The rollback follows other recent Trump administration deregulation efforts aimed at reducing operating costs for businesses and consumers, including moves to roll back vehicle emissions standards and ease pollution limits on coal-fired power plants.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
Recent Comments