Biden Water Heater Rule Disputed by States, Industry in Court

Nearly two-dozen attorneys general and a coalition of industry groups on Friday asked the Eleventh Circuit to review federal efficiency standards for natural gas instantaneous water heaters.

Twenty-one states, a group of trade organizations, and water heater manufacturer Rinnai America Corp. joined the petition for review filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, saying the Department of Energy’s December final rule was a de facto ban on noncondensing tankless heaters.

The agency’s regulation mandated a “technologically impossible efficiency standard” for noncondensing tankless water heaters, effectively eliminating the product’s market in favor of pricier water heaters, according ...