MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Justice has joined a coalition challenging a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that would delay deadlines for industries to transition away from hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which are widely used in refrigeration and cooling equipment.
According to the DOJ, HFCs are among the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and can have a global warming impact thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide.
The petition challenges an EPA rule that would extend deadlines allowing some commercial refrigeration equipment to continue using higher global-warming-potential refrigerants. The DOJ argues the rollback weakens regulations established under the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, which calls for an approximately 85 percent reduction in HFC production and consumption by 2036.
Attorney General Josh Kaul criticized the rule in a statement, saying it is “consistent with the Trump administration’s clear pattern of taking action that harms the environment” and that “this unwarranted rollback must be blocked.”
The DOJ says the previous EPA Technology Transitions rule required many new commercial refrigeration systems installed beginning in 2026 to use refrigerants with significantly lower global warming potential. Under the rollback, some equipment could continue using higher-emission refrigerants through 2032.
Wisconsin joined the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, along with the City of New York, in filing the petition.
