Attorney General James Sues to Stop EPA Rollback of Climate Protections

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined a coalition of 18 other attorneys general and the City of New York in suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a rule that weakens federal limits on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a uniquely dangerous class of greenhouse gases that can be up to 10,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The rule delays long-established deadlines requiring new commercial refrigeration equipment to transition to cleaner refrigerants, undermining the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act and increasing harmful emissions that contribute to climate change. Attorney General James and the coalition are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to block EPA’s unlawful rollback.

“From blankets of wildfire smoke to worsening storms and floods to exceedingly high temperatures, we are experiencing the climate crisis in real time,” said Attorney General James. “Congress passed a bipartisan law to reduce some of the most dangerous greenhouse gases because the costs of inaction are simply too high. The EPA cannot ignore that law and put our communities at risk. My office is taking action to ensure these critical climate protections remain in place.”

HFCs are widely used in commercial refrigeration, air conditioning, and cooling systems. Once deemed a safer alternative to ozone-depleting chemicals, HFCs have now been found to be among the most potent greenhouse gases, with global warming impacts hundreds to thousands of times greater than those of carbon dioxide. Because HFCs remain in the atmosphere for a relatively short period, reducing their use is one of the fastest ways to slow the pace of climate change.

Congress recognized that threat when it passed the bipartisan AIM Act in 2020, which was signed into law by President Trump. The law directs EPA to phase down HFC production and consumption by approximately 85 percent by 2036. To carry out that mandate, EPA adopted technology transition standards requiring manufacturers installing new refrigeration and cooling equipment to use refrigerants with lower global warming potential where safer alternatives are already available, ensuring demand for HFCs declines alongside the law’s phasedown of HFC production.

The rule challenged today weakens the EPA’s Technology Transitions Rule by delaying compliance deadlines for several categories of commercial refrigeration equipment by as much as six years. For example, remote condensing units commonly used in supermarkets, convenience stores, and bakeries would be allowed to continue using refrigerants with nearly ten times the global warming potential previously permitted until 2032.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that EPA’s rollback will increase emissions of highly potent greenhouse gases, slow progress toward reducing climate pollution, and undermine the orderly transition Congress established under the AIM Act. The rule also risks creating unnecessary market disruption by weakening the balance between declining HFC supply and demand, increasing the likelihood of shortages and higher costs that could ultimately be passed on to consumers.

The attorneys general also contend that EPA has ignored the fact that companies operating in New York and elsewhere have already invested in compliance with the existing rule’s requirements and compliance schedule. In fact, several industry trade groups have joined states and advocacy organizations in filing petitions challenging the administration’s rollback of the existing rule.

In filing today’s lawsuit, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that EPA’s rule is arbitrary, capricious, contrary to the AIM Act, and therefore unlawful.

Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and the City of New York.