In one of his moves that will get less publicity than others but undoubtedly be felt a great deal by ordinary Americans in their daily lives, President Donald Trump announced on Friday, May 9, that he was rescinding some awful, HW Bush-era regulations that ruined some of America’s most-used appliances by making them far less functional in the name of “efficiency.”
Those regulations have to do with water pressure and related functionality issues, as the Energy Policy Act of 1992 introduced efficiency standards that have led to things like low-flow toilets, low-pressure showers, dishwashers that don’t do the job, and similarly painfully annoying appliance changes, all in the name of vague concepts of “efficiency” that benefits “the environment.”
President Trump yanked those away in a memorandum titled, “Rescission of Useless Water Pressure Standards,” using the memo to both call out the extremely expensive and annoying effects of the rule changes for water efficiency and to announce that those terrible rules were going away.
Beginning the memo, the president summarized the issue by saying, “Water conservation requirements for faucets, showers, bathtubs, and toilets — promulgated by the Department of Energy pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-486) — make bathroom appliances more expensive and less functional.”
Continuing, he slammed the efficiency standards that landed us in this position and said the government has no business making rules such as those, writing, “’Efficiency’ standards render other American appliances like clothes washers and dishwashers less useful, more breakable, and more expensive to repair. The Federal Government should not impose or enforce regulations that make taxpayers’ lives worse.”
Praising Trump online for the move, Reason’s Robby Soave praised Trump for the move and wrote, in a post on X, “This is one of the greatest things the Trump administration has done so far. Biden’s efficiency standards for appliances have made dishwashers and clothes dryers way, way worse.”
Also praising Trump for the move on X was Mario Nawfal, who commented on just how absurd the efficiency standards are. He wrote, “
TRUMP FLUSHES AWAY 30 YEARS OF “GREEN” RESTRICTIONS ON TOILETS, SHOWERS AND LIGHTBULBS Trump rolled back water and energy efficiency rules dating to 1992, when President George H. W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act.”
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He continued, “That law capped toilets at 1.6 gallons per flush and restricted showerheads and faucets. Obama-era updates tightened them further. Trump reversed course. He mocked low-flow toilets that ‘need 15 flushes,’ hated LED bulbs that ‘make you look orange,’ and called paper straws ;ridiculous.’ EPA chief Lee Zeldin was told to scrap Biden-era restrictions.”
Watch Trump sign the memo here:
For reference, the memo from President Trump also described in detail what he was demanding the Secretary of Energy do in order to rid America of the troublesome efficiency standards. He wrote, beginning that part of it. “To address these unnecessary radical green agenda policies, I direct the Secretary of Energy to consider using all lawful authority to rescind — or, as appropriate, amend to revert to the standards required by statute — the regulations found in 10 C.F.R. 430.32(f), relating to water and energy use in dishwashers; 10 C.F.R. 430.32(o), relating to water use in faucets; 10 C.F.R. 430.32(p), relating to water use in showerheads; 10 C.F.R. 430.32(q), relating to water use in water closets; 10 C.F.R. 430.32(r), relating to water use in urinals; the definitions of “automatic clothes washer,” “clothes washer,” “dishwasher,” “faucet,” “other clothes washer,” “semi-automatic clothes washer,” “urinal,” and “water closet” contained in 10 C.F.R. 430.2; the residential washing machine efficiency standards contained in 10 C.F.R. 430.32(g); and the commercial washing machine efficiency standards contained in 10 C.F.R. 431.156.”
Adding to that, he described another policy that is going on the chopping block, writing, “Furthermore, I direct the Secretary of Energy to publish in the Federal Register a notice clarifying the Waiver of Federal Preemption of State regulations covered by the application of “Energy Efficiency Program for Consumer Products: Waiver of Federal Preemption of State Regulations Concerning the Water Use or Water Efficiency of Showerheads, Faucets, Water Closets and Urinals,” 75 Fed. Reg. 80289 (December 22, 2010).”
Giving one more paragraph of rules, Trump called on the secretary to no longer enforce certain named provisions, writing, “I further direct the Secretary of Energy not to enforce any of the regulatory provisions listed in this memorandum, pending rescission or reversion of such provisions; the provisions of 42 U.S.C. 6295(j) and (k); or energy and water efficiency standards for washing machines, including the provisions in 42 U.S.C. 6295(g) and 42 U.S.C. 6313(e).”
Concluding, Trump insisted that the secretary and other federal employees come up with a way to permanently do away with the ridiculous act that put America in this position, which would be a more permanent solution to the “efficiency” problem. He said, “Finally, I direct the Secretary of Energy and the Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs to jointly prepare and submit recommendations to the President, within 60 days of the date of this memorandum, through the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council, for the Congress to rescind, insofar as each relates to the subject matter of this memorandum, 42 U.S.C. 6295(g), (j), (k), and (o) and 42 U.S.C. 6313(e), or to repeal the Energy Policy Act of 1992 in its entirety.”