IIAR

The 2024 election delivered Donald Trump a victory in the Electoral College, along with Republican majorities (albeit by thin margins) in both the House and Senate. As the President-Elect prepares to return to the White House he is beginning to bring forward nominees for key government posts that may shed light on regulatory policies impacting the industrial refrigeration industry. There are also clues from his first term about how a Trump Administration will address regulations.

On the campaign trail, Trump talked about the need to address burdensome regulations. His platform, titled “Agenda 47,” also references the overregulation. The first point under Chapter Three of the platform states that “Republicans will slash regulations that stifle jobs, freedom, innovation and make everything more expensive.” Deregulation was also a theme of Trump’s first term, where he instituted policies to limit the growth in regulation, such as requiring the removal of two regulations for every new regulation put in place. While it is unclear whether he will follow that same policy in his second term, it appears that tackling overly burdensome regulations will be on his agenda.

A usual practice of all new administrations is to issue a directive to withdraw all pending regulations of the previous administration and to defer the effective dates of recently published regulations. The Trump administration is also expected to rescind executive orders signed by Biden that are counter to Trump’s policy priorities. Rules completed late in the Biden term could also be subject to cancellation under the Congressional Review Act.

New to the second term will be an effort led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to establish a Department of Government Efficiency. Not many details are known as to how the new organization will operate, but both Musk and Ramaswamy have talked about the need to evaluate and pare back the current regulatory framework.

Below is an analysis of the regulatory outlook for two agencies with regulations impacting the industrial refrigeration industry, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

OSHA

Under the previous Trump Administration, OSHA went the full term without a confirmed Assistant Secretary for OSHA. This appeared to limit major policy changes within the agency. However, the agency did shift toward less stringent regulatory actions and a greater focus on compliance assistance over punitive measures and high-profile press releases highlighting enforcement actions against employers. This approach is expected again in the next Trump Administration. It is also likely that recent Biden initiatives will be reviewed and possibly rolled back.

Some anticipated actions include:

• Emphasizing compliance assistance and expanding programs that encourage OSHAemployer collaboration, including Alliance, Strategic Partnership, Voluntary Protection, Challenge, and On-Site Consultation Programs.
• Reducing the use of press releases and data-sharing, likely with a more measured approach to public communications, including the severe injury dashboard.
• Reevaluating enforcement practices from the previous administration, potentially modifying policies such as instance-byinstance citation application and criteria for the Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Pending OSHA rulemakings that could be impacted:
• Changes to Process Safety Management remain on the agency’s regulatory agenda. However, much like during Trump’s first term, it is not expected that OSHA will move forward with the rulemaking process.
• President Trump may reconsider OSHA’s “Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process” rule, which allows some third-party representatives in inspections. The rule is also being challenged in the courts.
• The proposed “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention” rule, which has yet to be finalized, is not likely to move forward in its current form and could be scrapped in favor of guidance instead of regulation. 
• The proposed “Emergency Response Standard” is still in the rulemaking process and could be shelved by the new administration, particularly given concerns about the rule’s clarity and potential burden.
• The “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” rule could also be revisited. The policy exemplifies regulatory shifts across recent administrations, impacting consistency in reporting requirements for employers and OSHA’s policy direction.

Enforcement will continue as the new administration takes shape, but priorities will shift at the federal level. In response to some of these rollbacks and shifting priorities on the federal level, some states, like California, may intensify their enforcement efforts.

EPA

Trump has selected former Rep. Lee Zeldin from New York to lead the EPA. Zeldin has indicated that deregulation will be a top priority for him as EPA Administrator. A substantial shift in the EPA’s focus is expected, marked by decentralized regulatory power at the federal level, a pivot toward fossil fuels, and fewer initiatives focused on climate change and environmental justice. This approach could reduce regulatory costs for businesses and influence international efforts aimed at reducing global emissions. In the previous Trump Administration, the U.S. pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and there is potential to see similar withdrawals from international climate negotiations and commitments.

The Trump administration previously sought to reduce the EPA’s budget by up to 30%, although Congress ultimately approved fewer cuts. Trump also froze hiring and aimed to reduce staff levels. Similar efforts are expected in his second term.

In his first term, Trump moved to reconsider the changes in the Risk Management Program (RMP) finalized by the Obama Administration. It is possible that history will repeat itself with the recent RMP changes instituted by the Biden Administration. The latest RMP Rule, “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention” was finalized in February 2024, but the compliance date for most provisions is not until 2027. The new EPA leadership could consider additional rulemaking to revise or rescind the Biden era RMP rule.

While it is widely expected that many climate policies will be rolled-back under the Trump Administration, it is not clear how that will impact regulations under the American Innovation & Manufacturing (AIM) Act. The AIM Act passed with bipartisan support and also has support from industry. These factors may keep AIM Act policies off the list of high priority roll backs.

As the transition to the new Trump Administration continues, IIAR will be closely monitoring developments, engaging with policy makers, and advocating for policies beneficial to the industry