() A massive rollback in energy and environmental standards is underway as part of the House of Representatives’ budget reconciliation bill.
There are 47 different Biden-era energy regulations set to be eliminated, including water pressure, air pollution, gas stoves and auto emissions.
Republican lawmakers say the new measures are driving up costs and lowering the quality of life for Americans, while Democrats say otherwise. There has not been a clear answer on what, or if, there will be any cost savings.
House Republicans killed a Democrat-backed amendment that called for a cost analysis study to find out what the average American would save under the plan. According to the Government Accountability Office, in 2024, efficiency standards saved the average American household about $576 on water and gas bills.
The GAO also reported that total energy consumption was down 6.4% and public water use dropped by 12.5%.
Some of the 47 regulations on the chopping block include fast-tracking permitting for oil and gas infrastructure by allowing companies to pay fees to win approvals, and on a household level, energy conservation standards for microwaves, water use standards for faucets and design requirements for ovens and stoves would all be rescinded.
Some experts say the rollbacks likely won’t make things cheaper and benefit consumers.
“I don’t think any of these rollbacks will have any significant short to medium term implications on the costs to the consumer,” Carolyn Kissane, associate dean at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, said. “Partially, that is because many of those appliances are already in production and they’re not going to suddenly change production or standards.”
While water standards aren’t being scrapped entirely, they are being tweaked to be more friendly towards utility companies. The limits on three different PFAS, or forever chemicals, in water are being removed and reconsidered by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA is still keeping some Biden-era water regulations in place, like what is considered an allowable amount of forever chemicals in water, but they are giving utility companies until 2031 to comply and treat for the chemicals.
