The Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department announced actions to undo and postpone standards for certain home appliances that were implemented by the Biden administration.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin instructed the agency on Friday to overhaul the WaterSense specifications that were developed under the Biden administration.
“Americans deserve access to the best products in their homes, and appliances like shower heads and lightbulbs that work,” Zeldin said. “That’s why I’ve instructed EPA’s WaterSense program to overhaul their specifications that best factor in effectiveness and consumer experience.”
WaterSense is a voluntary program for labeling water-efficient products. Those products under the WaterSense label must be at least 20% more water-efficient and perform as well as or better than similar products in the market, EPA officials said last year.
But Zeldin said the list of specifications has encouraged the sale of low-quality bathroom and kitchen faucets, residential toilets, and sprinkler nozzles.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump ordered the EPA to roll back standards for lightbulbs and water-using appliances implemented by his predecessor.
In a social media post, Trump instructed Zeldin to “immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES DISHWASHERS, etc.”
He added that lightbulb standards should also be reversed and that the agency should instead use “common sense standards” that were implemented during his first term.
Alongside the EPA, the Energy Department announced Friday that it would postpone the implementation of seven efficiency standards on home appliances rules, which department officials said drive up costs and reduce consumer choice.
The DOE will postpone efficiency standards for central air conditioners, clothes washers and dryers, general service lamps, walk-in coolers and freezers, gas instantaneous water heaters, commercial refrigeration equipment, and air compressors.
“A top priority for President Trump is lowering costs for American families,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. “Today’s announcement will foster consumer choice and lower prices — it is a win for all Americans. The people, not the government, should be choosing the home appliances and products they want at prices they can afford.”
Department officials said they will also create a new energy efficiency category for natural gas tankless water heaters.