In the Air - HRAI Industry News

Samantha Slater, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) spoke in Toronto at CMPX, on March 25 about the shifting regulatory landscape in the U.S. and what the implications are for the HVACR and water heating industry in Canada.  

Ms. Slater provided an update on the reconsideration of the 2023 Technology Transitions (TT) rule at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The TT rule is a key component of the U.S. compliance with the Kigali Amendment.  The reconsideration of the TT rule was initially part of the March 2025 deregulatory announcement from the U.S. EPA. In comments submitted in late 2025, AHRI urged ERPA to maintain the transition schedule that was finalized in 2023, noting that changing the schedule now would disrupt planning and inject uncertainty across the market.  AHRI is expecting a final TT reconsideration rule from the U.S. EPA later this year, possibly in the summer.  

She also noted the recent Memorandum of Agreement between the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) designating U.S. DOE as the lead federal agency over the ENERGY STAR program. DOE also made a deregulatory agenda announcement in May 2025, including seven rulemaking items that had implications for the HVACR and water heating industry.  Following comments, DOE has taken no further action on the deregulatory items to date. As part of a larger restructuring effort at the U.S. DOE, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is now the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. Ms. Slater also reviewed several state issues, including ongoing state legislative and regulatory activity on PFAS, plastics and packaging, building decarbonization, building codes, data centers, and affordability issues impacting climate policy. If you have any questions please contact Samantha Slater at sslater@ahrinet.org.