Raritan NJ
7-22-2026 6:44pm

AG Davenport Sues Trump Administration Over Rule Weakening Regulation of Highly Potent Greenhouse Gas Linked to Climate Change

Complaint
TRENTON – Attorney General Jennifer Davenport today joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), challenging its rule that would weaken regulations designed to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in commercial equipment, such as air conditioning and refrigeration.

HFCs are chemicals used for refrigeration and cooling that are up to 10,000 times more potent climate pollutants than the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, and they are among the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions both in the United States and around the world.

By rolling back deadlines for industry to transition to less harmful alternatives, this rule undermines EPA’s current regulations under the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act), which President Trump himself signed into law during his first term in 2020. The prior regulations are designed to phase out HFCs by approximately 85% by 2036. In the petition filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Attorney General Davenport and the coalition petition the Court to review EPA’s new rule because it is contrary to law and EPA fails to justify its change in position.

“New Jersey is one of the fastest-warming states in the country, and this proposed rollback is nonsensical, especially given that President Trump himself supported the transition to less harmful chemicals just six years ago,” said Attorney General Davenport. “Our residents and businesses want a safer, stable environment, not drought, wildfires, worsening floods, and severe storms that threaten our lives and our properties. We are asking the Court to set aside EPA’s dangerous new rule.”

HFCs are used in commercial, residential, and mobile cooling systems. HFCs were discovered to pose a major threat to the climate, with greenhouse effects hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide over a hundred-year period. HFCs have been projected to contribute up to about 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit to global warming by 2100 if they are not controlled.

The AIM Act provides a framework through which the United States will phase out the production and consumption of HFCs by about 85% by 2036. That law limits production and imports of HFCs in the U.S. on an increasing basis over time – 60% today, declining to 30% in 2029, and 15% in 2036. The law requires EPA to help industry transition to a lower supply of these gases by setting limits for sectors with more readily available alternatives to protect costs and supply for those sectors that will take longer to transition.

For example, under the prior Technology Transitions rule, new remote condensing units — typically used to refrigerate food by retailers like supermarkets, bakeries, and conveniences stores — were limited to using refrigerants with lesser climate effects, depending on the system, starting January 1, 2026.

With EPA’s rollback, new remote condensing units could use refrigerants with 10 times greater global warming potential until January 1, 2032.

If allowed to move forward, EPA’s new rule will increase HFC emissions, accelerating the damage already threatening our planet and communities from climate change.

In the lawsuit, Attorney General Davenport and the coalition allege that EPA’s final rule is arbitrary and capricious and violates the AIM Act.

Joining Attorney General Davenport in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, and Washington, who led the complaint, along with the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, and the City of New York

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