Court Skeptical of Retailers’ Challenge to EPA’s Hydrofluorocarbon Reduction Deadlines Amid Climate Change Efforts.

A federal appeals court appears unlikely to side with food and beverage retailers seeking to scrap deadlines on an EPA rule to reduce hydrofluorocarbons, a potent planet-warming pollutant. The groups argue that the EPA has not done enough to explain the rule and how industry should comply with it. The October 2023 rule on reducing HFCs in air conditioning and refrigeration equipment is among the targets. Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit questioned the challengers’ claims that the agency had set aggressive deadlines that industry cannot meet.