The Department of Energy issued a proposal on Tuesday to repeal a Trump administration rule creating a new class of dishwashers that wash and dry in an hour.
The Trump administration’s rule established a separate product class for dishwashers that clean and dry dishes within one hour, an action that excluded those appliances from current energy and water conservation standards. It had acted in response to a petition filed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank.
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Former President Donald Trump also frequently complained about efficiency standards that he claimed slowed everything from dishwashers to showerheads.
The Biden administration’s Energy Department has already moved to overturn a Trump administration change to the definition of a showerhead meant to let more water flow.
Now, the Energy Department is arguing the Trump administration didn’t follow a law requiring an analysis of whether the rule changes to dishwashers were designed to achieve the best efficiency improvement that’s technologically feasible and economically justified.
Environmental groups sued over the Trump rule because it allowed a new class of dishwashers to be sold but did not establish limits on energy and water consumption for that class, effectively evading existing energy and water efficiency standards. They said it undermined the agency’s energy conservation program that is also meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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“The reversal of this senseless action will close an illegal loophole that would have undermined the nation’s highly successful energy efficiency standards program, a program that saves consumers money and reduces dangerous power plant emissions,” said Joe Vukovich of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
