U.S. House Representative Neal Dunn, a Florida Republican, on January 24 introduced a joint resolution to strike down a rule authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enhance the management, recycling and reuse of climate-damaging HFC refrigerants as part of its efforts to phase down the use of HFCs under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act.
The joint resolution, H.J. Res. 30, would rescind this part of the AIM Act under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA allows Congress to negate any agency rule if the joint resolution is introduced within 60 days of continuous session of the rule’s publication in the Federal Register. Days-of-continuous-session periods count every calendar day, including weekends and holidays, and exclude only days that either chamber (or both) is gone for more than three days pursuant to an adjournment resolution. The AIM Act rule on refrigerant management was published in the Federal Register on October 11, 2024.
H.J. Res. 30 was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on January 24. It would still need to be passed by the House and the Senate and signed by President Trump in order to take effect. Republicans currently hold a slight 218–215 majority over Democrats in the House, with two Republican vacancies reducing the number of Republicans to 216. Republicans hold a 53–47 majority in the Senate.
Historically, the CRA has been used to overturn a total of 20 rules: one in the 107th Congress (2001–2002), 16 in the 115th Congress (2017–2018, the previous Trump administration), and three in the 117 th Congress (2021–2022).
The rule targeted by the joint resolution – Management of Certain HFCs and Their Substitutes Under the AIM Act – is the last of three rules established by the Aim Act, which was signed by President Trump in December 2020 with bipartisan and industry support. The other two rules – covering “Allowance Allocation” and “Technology Transitions” – were finalized in 2023 and are thus outside the purview of the CRA.
“In AHRI’s view, this final rule … is an important part of the ongoing transition from hydrofluorocarbons [HFCs] to next-generation refrigerants.”
Stephen Yurek, President & CEO, Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute
This HFCs management rule establishes an Emissions Reduction and Reclamation Program and includes:
- leak repair for certain appliances;
- use of automatic leak detection systems for certain new and existing appliances;
- a standard for reclaimed HFC refrigerants;
- servicing and/or repair of certain refrigerant-containing equipment with reclaimed HFCs;
- initial installation and servicing and/or repair of fire suppression equipment with recycled HFCs;
- recovery of HFCs from disposable cylinders prior to disposal; and
- recordkeeping, reporting and labeling.
The refrigerant management rule was widely heralded by both industry and environmental groups when it was first announced last September. “In AHRI’s view, this final rule, which is an important part of the ongoing transition from hydrofluorocarbons [HFCs] to next-generation refrigerants, is the first, but important, step in refrigerant management policy for the HFC transition,” said Stephen Yurek, President & CEO, Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
However, during the recent presidential campaign, the Trump-linked 2025 Presidential Transition Project – known as Project 2025 – recommended in its section on the EPA that a potential future Republican administration repeal Biden administration HFC regulations authorized by AIM Act “that are unnecessarily stringent and costly.”
At least three states – New York, California and Washington – have enacted regulations that regulate the management and repair of HFC leaks, effectively backstopping the management rule in the AIM Act.
