EPA has sent two more rules easing air pollution requirements to the White House for review, according to notices on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ website.
The regulations — a final rule dealing with certain refrigerants, and a proposal aimed at tailpipe standards for conventional pollutants — are part of the Trump administration’s broader deregulatory efforts.
The first rule was proposed last fall and would ease or delay various requirements under a 2023 “technology transition rule” targeting hydrofluorocarbons, a type of gas that’s commonly used as a refrigerant but which Congress has tasked EPA with phasing down because they are also potent greenhouse gases.
The proposal responds to various petitions from companies or industry groups over certain requirements in the 2023 rule. Among other things, the proposal exempted more refrigerated transport containers, delayed deadlines for chillers used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment used in refrigerated laboratories and created a “sell-through” period for the continued installation of air conditioners made before 2025.
