SACRAMENTO — A regulation freeze called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will cause the state to miss a deadline to set guidelines for a law mandating water-efficient washing machines that could save billions of gallons of water a year.
The California Energy Commission, which was supposed to consider the matter Wednesday, dropped it from its agenda after the governor’s office did not exempt it from the freeze, meaning the regulations will miss their Dec. 31 deadline.
Delays could keep the law from taking effect on Jan. 1, 2007, as originally determined.
Energy commissioner and Schwarzenegger administration officials said there’s no problem, but water conservation advocates disagree.
“This sounds like a fumble on the five-yard line, you just kind of hate to see that happen,” said Ed Osann, a water consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This is a consequence of the executive order and these kinds of delays are really unfortunate. There’s a lot of water savings riding on this decision.”
Water advocates say the delays could jeopardize the state’s attempts to gain a federal waiver allowing it to apply the water-use limits for washing machines, which go beyond federal appliance efficiency laws. The state needs the waiver before the law can go into effect.
Energy commission spokes-woman Claudia Chandler says she’s optimistic the commission will adopt the regulations at its next business meeting in January, and feels there’s sufficient time to meet the April 1, 2004, deadline to apply for the federal waiver.
She acknowledged the commission was now out of compliance with the law, but said she felt legislators would understand they were making a good faith effort to get regulations into place.
California’s 35 million residents face perpetual water issues. By targeting washing machines — which consume about 20 percent of a household’s annual water use — the state would save billions of gallons of water a year, according to the energy commission.
Passed and signed by former Gov. Gray Davis last year, the law creates a two-tier approach to increasing the water efficiency of washing machines.
By 2007, all washers sold in California must have a water factor of 8.5, which will save an estimated 3.6 billion gallons of water that year, the energy commission said. The water factor is calculated by dividing the total amount of water used to wash and rinse a load of laundry by the tub’s capacity in cubic feet. In 2010, washers would have to have a water factor standard of 6, which would save an estimated 6.3 billion gallons of water that year.
The energy commission applied for an exception to the freeze earlier this month, but was told Tuesday the request could not be considered because it had not been approved by the Resources Agency secretary, who oversees the commission.
Schwarzenegger appointed Mike Chrisman, a Southern California Edison executive, to the position Nov. 21. Instead of resubmitting the exception request, the energy commission Tuesday gave a business reassessment to Chrisman as required by the executive order, Chandler said. If he decides to approve it, he’ll pass it on to the governor’s legal affairs secretary.
From The Desert Sun