Flush Away the Drought

Our Bad Timing of the Month award goes to Representative Joe Knollenberg (R-Michigan), whose bill to repeal water conservation standards on plumbing fixtures moved into the hearing phase on July 27, just as one of the worst droughts of the century was making headlines along the East Coast. Knollenberg’s bill, H.R. 623, with 84 cosponsors (72 Republicans and 12 Democrats), is being considered by the Subcommittee on Energy and Power within the House Committee on Commerce. If it were signed into law, the bill would repeal the water conservation standards of the 1992 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, including the 1.6 gallon-per-flush (6 l/flush) limit for toilets.

Somewhat surprisingly, the industries Knollenberg wants to unburden from regulation don’t seem particularly interested in being unburdened. George Whalen, representing the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors–National Association (PHCC) at the July 27 hearing, testified that “H.R. 623 counters every energy and natural resources conservation and efficiency message Congress has ever sent. H.R. 623 is bad for the environment. H.R. 623 is bad for the business community.” David Goike of Masco Corporation testified on behalf of the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI) that the water conservation standards being considered for repeal have “saved precious water; saved consumers money; cost the government virtually nothing to administer; and helped the environment! … Repeal of the federal law would create regulatory disarray where uniformity exists today.” Cece Kremer, vice president of government affairs for PMI, was quoted in the July 30

Washington Post saying, “It’s so irresponsible to even discuss this now in the face of the drought.” Even the National Association of Home Builders, previously in favor of the measure, is now officially “neutral” on the bill, according to the