As lawmakers, agencies, and courts reassess federal efficiency programs, trade groups are watching closely, mindful of how rulemakings may shift the landscape related to faucets, fixtures, boilers, and water heaters.
The Trump administration is currently reviewing more than 30 rules, including some related to appliance standards and potentially higher water‐flow standards for faucets, although stakeholders don’t expect significant revisions to be proposed until at least next year.
“We’re working with the Trump Administration and the Department of Energy on understanding existing rules, how they were developed, and identifying opportunities to protect consumers from the rising costs of new equipment,” said Alex Ayers, Vice President of Government Affairs for Heating, Air conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International.
But for many, current and potentially forthcoming regulatory changes are already demonstrative of a significant shift in approach between the Biden and Trump administrations.
Biden-Era Regulations and Trump-Era Rollbacks
During the Biden administration, a sweeping set of energy efficiency regulations dramatically increased federal oversight on consumer products, prompting manufacturers to adjust.
“The Biden Administration put out a lot of energy efficiency rules over the last four years, which have pushed much of the industry to look for ways to reduce the economic impact ofcontinuous rulemakings on consumers,” Ayers said.
That aggressive regulatory posture stands in stark contrast to the Trump administration, which has focused heavily on eliminating regulatory oversight for companies and products and leading rollbacks through the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
One final Biden-era rule issued in December 2024, for example, related to efficiency standards for gas-fired tankless water heaters. The rule would have required consumer units to use about 13% less energy than today’s least efficient models, but was nixed when requirements were returned to baseline standards in May.
“Products are already much more efficient now,” said Chuck White, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for the Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors National Association, which supported the rule withdrawal.
“When you look at how much savings you can generate, there were a lot of savings when we started with 60% efficiency, but if you’re already at 85% or 90% efficiency, you keep having smaller increases, so it’s diminishing returns.”
Congressional Pushback
Since this spring, when nine CRA resolutions were signed into law, Congress has tried to further scale back the federal government’s regulatory thumb, including by making a renewed push to advance the Energy Choice Act (ECA), which would prohibit states from mandating a single type of fuel for appliances such as water heaters.
“We support consumer choice, electric or gas, because we have members that make both,” White said. “This bill would ensure that states allow both options, whether it’s a heat pump water heater, or a gas model.”
In July, lawmakers also introduced a bill aimed at reforming the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) by requiring that any new standards be both technologically feasible and economically justified to account for the costs and real-world impacts of new regulations. Specifically, the bill would also make it more difficult for the Department of Energy (DOE) to tighten flow rate limits on faucets and showerheads and prevent the adoption of stricter efficiency requirements for boilers and water heaters.
While limiting the authority of DOE to update rules is a main aim of the Act, however, some regulations look like they may be influenced through executive orders anyway—without going through Congress at all.
Courts and Executive Orders
In 2020, President Trump signed an executive order altering the flow rate limits of showerheads, reversing an Obama-era standard. The Biden administration then reversed Trump’s change, which Trump reversed again in an executive order on April 9, 2025.
The debate has centered on whether limits apply to a single shower head or all devices in a shower compartment: Under one interpretation, all combined outlets couldn’t exceed 2.5 gallons per minute at 80 pounds per square inch; under another, each individual device installed on a wall could meet that limit.
When it comes to water heaters, furnaces, and boilers, the courts may have a say, too. In relation to commercial boiler efficiencies, a forthcoming ruling issued by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia could open the door for the Trump administration to reintroduce more flexible standards. If the court rules against stricter standards, it would set a precedent which also makes it harder for DOE to implement aggressive rulemaking in the future.
For White, of the Plumbing, Heating, Cooling Contractors National Association, there is no telling what will happen on so many fronts, with certain areas of the legislative process decelerating, and other regulatory changes enacted through the Administration and Congress.
“We’re waiting on a lot of things,” White said. “To some extent there’s a bit of guesswork going on.”
