The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Resource Defense Council, and multiple HVAC industry associations have long shared one wish: an organized, federally approved phasedown plan for HFC refrigerants. The AIM Act, written to do exactly that, muddled its way through hearings and other legislative limbo for over a year with no success.

So it might have felt like a holiday miracle for all involved when the House and Senate included the AIM Act’s language in the appropriations/COVID relief legislation passed by Congress on Dec. 21.