The Trump administration is moving to loosen environmental standards for shower heads after a string of public complaints from the president about low-stream fixtures designed to save water.
A new proposal from the Department of Energy (DOE) would change the definition of a shower head, essentially different components within the device could count as individual fixtures, requirements for side step allowing no more than 2.5 gallons per minute to flow.
“If adopted, this rule would undo the action of the previous administration and return it to Congress, allowing Americans – not Washington bureaucrats – to choose what kind of shower heads they have in their homes,” DOE spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said in a statement. email to The Hill.
The move drew rapid criticism from consumer groups.
“There is absolutely no need to change current standards for shower heads,” said David Friedman, vice president of advocacy at Consumer Reports and a former DOE official during the Obama administration, in a statement.
“Thanks to the standards, consumers have access to shower heads that not only score well [Consumer Reports] testing and achieving high levels of customer satisfaction, but also saving consumers money by reducing energy and water consumption, “Friedman added.
President Trump
Donald John TrumpDemocrat calls on White House to take back ambassador to Belarus nominated TikTok to collect data from mobile devices to track Android users: Peterson report wins Minnesota House primarily in crucial swing district MORE has revealed its fixation on fixtures by repeating its distance to shower heads, toilets, and even energy-saving light bulbs and dishwashers.
‘Shower heads – you take a shower, the water does not come out. You want to wash your hands, the water does not come out. So what do you do? Do you just stand there longer or do you take a shower longer? Because my hair – I do not know about you, but it must be perfect. Perfect, ”he said, laughing at an event in July over withdrawing regulations.
In December, he said that “People flush toilets 10 times, 15 times.”
While Trump’s remarks have been mocked on late – night TV shows, communities in white-collar areas, particularly in the West, rely on low – flow fixtures to maintain their water supplies.
Residents of other parts of the country benefit financially from the standards due to lower water levels and lower costs associated with water heaters.
Roughly three-quarters of shower heads on the market use 20 percent less than the maximum allowed under law, but some highly rated fixtures use just 70 percent of the stream allowed under law.
Under previous management, the DOE has updated standards for a range of devices and fixtures with little fanfare.
“The new plan is a gimmick in search of a problem,” Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, wrote in a blog post.
“Complaints about faulty shower heads were common decades ago, in an episode of Seinfeld from 1996. But for many years now we have a solution for low-performance models,” he said, referring to research from Consumer Reports. “In the wake of years of innovation, including improved use of ventilation, the magazine found that ‘the top water-saving and rain-shower models we test deliver a strong stream.'”
The DOE’s new proposal could break “anti-backsliding provisions” in the law in 1992 when Congress set the 2.5-gallon standard.
DeLaski said he thinks the DOE will be challenged on the rule when it is finalized, with environmental groups working to demonstrate the implications of the climate change decision.
In addition to wasting water, he said, “the plan would increase greenhouse gas emissions if more fuel is burned in homes with gas water and at power plants that supply energy to homes with electric boilers.”
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