In what represents a landmark victory for IAPMO and numerous industry partners who have worked diligently to promote the program’s myriad benefits, Congress and the White House have passed a massive spending bill that will ensure the U.S. EPA’s WaterSense program is funded for the remainder of fiscal year 2018. The omnibus spending bill includes language stipulating that EPA “maintains funding for the WaterSense program at the fiscal year 2017 level.” IAPMO has maintained fierce support of WaterSense for more than a decade.
A true public-private partnership, WaterSense is a voluntary product efficiency labeling program that identifies efficient and high-performing water-consuming products. While EPA spends approximately $3 million a year to administer the program, it has saved consumers more than $33 billion in water and energy bills since the program’s inception in 2006. The program is widely supported across the building industry and has enjoyed bipartisan support on Capitol Hill throughout its existence. This support is not only due to the program’s successful outcomes, but also because of the quality and integrity of the products bearing the WaterSense label, which are the result of federal government oversight and third-party certification.
Because of the value of WaterSense to their business, employees, communities, and customers, more than 1,700 manufacturers, water and energy utilities, distributors, state and local governments, non-profit organizations, trade associations, and retailers nationwide have partnered with the program.
“IAPMO and its many industry partners have worked tirelessly to show the broad support this important program enjoys,” said Dain Hansen, IAPMO senior vice president of Government Affairs. “This coalition includes diverse voices — manufacturers, contractors, home builders, and environmental advocates; groups from across the political spectrum. For Congress to include such an explicit provision supporting WaterSense is a victory not only for U.S. business, but also for each homeowner who will continue to see water savings and ultimately lower utility costs.”
Modeled after the ENERGY STAR program, WaterSense seeks to protect the future of the U.S. water supply by offering consumers a simple way to make product-purchasing choices that conserve water with no sacrifice to quality or performance. Services and products earning the WaterSense label have been certified to be at least 20 percent more efficient than average products in the same category without affecting performance. Such products include toilets, urinals, showerheads, bathroom faucets, landscape irrigation controllers and pre-rinse spray valves.
IAPMO R&T is a leading provider of WaterSense product certification in the nation and has been a U.S. EPA licensed provider, accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), since 2007, certifying the first high-efficiency toilet (HET) to the standard in April of that year. To date, IAPMO R&T, part of The IAPMO Group, has certified thousands of such water-efficient products to the WaterSense specifications.
For more information on the legislation, contact Hansen at (202) 445-7514 or dain.hansen@iapmo.org.
