The U.S. Department of Energy issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 2, 2026, to revise the Process Rule, the procedural framework the agency uses to develop future energy efficiency standards for products including air conditioners and water heaters, according to a report published by ACHR News on July 7, 2026. The proposal does not change any efficiency standards already in effect for those or other covered products.

The rulemaking addresses how DOE will develop new mandates going forward rather than altering any specific numeric efficiency threshold currently in place. Manufacturers, distributors and contractors that make or sell air conditioners, water heaters and other covered equipment will not see any immediate change to existing compliance obligations as a result of the proposal itself.

Background on the Process Rule

The Process Rule sets out the procedural steps and analytical requirements DOE must follow before it can issue a new or amended energy conservation standard for a covered product. The rule does not set efficiency levels for any specific product category; instead, it governs the process DOE uses to study, propose and finalize such standards over time.

DOE's authority to set minimum efficiency standards for appliances, including air conditioners and water heaters, derives from the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Before DOE can use that authority to issue or amend a standard for any covered product, it must follow the procedural steps laid out in the Process Rule, including analytical and public-input requirements designed to inform how a proposed standard is developed.

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is a formal step in the federal rulemaking process. Once published in the Federal Register, it opens a defined window for public comment before the issuing agency can move to finalize the rule. DOE's July 2 notice on the Process Rule follows that same procedural path.

According to Alex Ayers, HARDI's vice president of government affairs, the July 2 proposal largely restores the version of the Process Rule that was in effect in 2020. That version was later revised in a subsequent rulemaking, and the new proposal would move the procedural framework back toward its earlier 2020 form rather than establishing an entirely new process.

Administration and Industry Reaction

Energy Secretary Chris Wright described the rulemaking as ending what the administration has called "Green New Scam Appliance Mandates." The characterization casts the proposal as part of a broader effort to roll back energy efficiency requirements adopted in prior years.

Ayers said that framing overstates the scope of the change. Because the proposal largely reinstates the 2020 version of the Process Rule rather than eliminating DOE's rulemaking authority or existing standards outright, Ayers characterized the practical effect as narrower than the administration's language suggests.

Trade Groups Back the Process Rule Proposal

Other national HVAC trade associations voiced support for the rulemaking. Francis Dietz of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) said he supports the direction of the proposal. Sean Robertson, vice president of government relations for the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), also said he supports the rulemaking's direction, according to ACHR News.

HARDI, AHRI and ACCA represent distributors, manufacturers and contractors, respectively, across the HVAC industry, and their public comments reflect industry-wide interest in how DOE develops efficiency mandates that eventually apply to products sold by their members. All three associations regularly submit comments to DOE on proposed efficiency rulemakings affecting HVAC equipment.

The public comment period on the proposed Process Rule revision will run for 30 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register. Manufacturers, distributors, contractors and other interested parties will have that window to submit formal input before DOE moves to finalize the rule.

Robertson connected the rulemaking to a separate, pending matter before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is set to rehear a case involving a DOE rule that would have raised minimum efficiency requirements for gas furnaces to 95% annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). That litigation is distinct from the Process Rule proposal, but both concern the underlying question of how DOE sets and revises efficiency mandates for HVAC equipment.

The Process Rule proposal does not resolve the furnace AFUE litigation, and the two matters are proceeding on separate tracks: the Process Rule rulemaking through DOE's public comment process, and the 95% AFUE furnace standard through the D.C. Circuit's pending rehearing. Both matters bear on how DOE will set efficiency requirements for equipment sold in the United States going forward.

No date has been set for DOE to finalize the Process Rule revision. Once the 30-day comment window following Federal Register publication closes, DOE will review submitted comments before issuing a final rule governing how future efficiency standards for air conditioners, water heaters and other covered products will be developed.