President Donald Trump proposed the idea of deregulating toilets on Friday, allowing Americans to flush with better results.
The president commented on the idea during a roundtable meeting with small businesses to discuss the financial benefits of deregulation.
“People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once,” Trump said. “They end up using more water.”
Trump confirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was looking into the idea of abandoning the regulations on flushing and sink faucet flow, but he did not share specific details.
Congress passed legislation in 1992 requiring that all toilets sold in the United States only use 1.6 gallons per flush. Some Americans at the time reacted to the new regulation by smuggling toilets from Canada that would use more water to flush.
Trump said the EPA was “looking very seriously” at “opening up the standard” per his request.
The president said he would also examine other regulatory burdens on bathroom appliances such as sinks and showers.
“EPA is looking at that very strongly at my suggestion,” he said.
The president also celebrated his decision to get rid of the energy-efficient lightbulb mandates, ending a ban on some incandescent bulbs.
“The new bulb is many times more expensive, and I hate to say it: it doesn’t make you look as good because, being a vain person, that’s important to me,” Trump said. He prompted laughter in the room after joking that the new lightbulbs made him look “orange.”
According to the White House, there have been 7.5 “roll-back” regulations for every new regulation under Trump’s executive order signed in 2017. The White House estimated that Trump had slashed regulatory costs by over $50 billion as a result of 390 deregulatory actions in the federal government.
“Together, we’re defending the American workers,” Trump said. “We’re using common sense.”