EPA’s Revised Refrigerant Compliance Deadlines Ease Transition for Food Industry

In a move expected to save businesses more than $900 million, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revised its compliance deadlines for refrigerants used in foodservice applications.

Signed into law at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020 requires an 85% phasedown in the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — synthetic gases that contribute to global warming — in refrigerants, air conditioning, and other applications by 2036. In 2023, under the Biden administration, the EPA adopted a Technology Transitions Rule that would have required grocery stores and other foodservice operators to move to alternative refrigerants for commercial refrigeration systems beginning in 2026. Some trade organizations opposed the Biden administration’s timeline because it would have forced the foodservice industry to move to a handful of refrigerant alternatives that currently are impractical, technologically infeasible, or unsafe.

In response to that feedback, in October 2025, the EPA, again under the leadership of the Trump administration, announced it would reconsider how the AIM Act is being implemented. On May 26, 2026, the agency announced a final rule that updates the compliance schedule to allow refrigerant blends that have a global warming potential (GWP) of up to 1,400 for remote condensing units and supermarket systems used in food retail. The GWP ceiling for cold storage warehouses was also raised to 700 GWP. The stricter requirements of 150 or 300 GWP blends that were previously scheduled to begin this year will now take effect beginning Jan. 1, 2032.

To help FEDA members understand the revised requirements, Refrigerated Solutions Group has published a guide explaining the final rule on refrigerant compliance deadlines. That resource can be downloaded here.