DOE Proposes Repeal of Illegal Dishwasher Rule
WASHINGTON – The Department of Energy (DOE) today moved to repeal a Trump-era rule that allowed certain new dishwashers to be made and sold without any limits on energy and water consumption.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) filed suit in December of 2020 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stop the illegal rule that created a new product class for dishwashers, but failed to establish any limits on energy and water consumption for that class, effectively evading existing energy and water efficiency standards.
The following is a statement from NRDC energy efficiency advocate Joe Vukovich:
“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.”
The agency also announced plans to reverse the similar exemption for quick-cycle clothes washers and clothes dryers. That rule created a “short-cycle” class for new clothes washers and dryers to effectively ignore current efficiency standards.