SHOWER Act

SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology

The SHOWER Act is a narrow definitional amendment to existing federal water-efficiency law. Congress may regulate showerheads as products in interstate commerce, and the bill does not infringe any enumerated right, take property without compensation, or impermissibly shift power away from state and local governments in a way that violates the Tenth Amendment. It is constitutionally sound.

• ✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
  Congress has explicit authority under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 to regulate interstate commerce. Showerheads are manufactured and sold through interstate commerce, and federal water-efficiency rules for them are within the established commerce power. The bill merely provides a statutory definition for an existing federal regulatory program, and it is also a proper exercise of the Necessary an…
• ✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
  The bill does not implicate the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, or Ninth Amendments. It defines a product for water-efficiency regulation and does not restrict speech, religion, assembly, press, petition, the right to keep and bear arms, or any criminal procedure right.
• ✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
  The bill imposes only a modest regulatory definition on manufacturers and consumers of showerheads. It does not restrict a person's control over body, belief, or core personal liberty. The government has a legitimate interest in uniform water-efficiency standards for products sold nationally, and this definitional change is not an arbitrary invasion of private property or labor rights beyond ordin…
• ✓ Passes · Decentralization
  An individual or family cannot set a nationwide product definition; a local community cannot regulate a national interstate market; and state-by-state definitions for a mass-produced consumer appliance would create inconsistent burdens on interstate commerce. A uniform national definition is the minimum necessary level of regulation for this product market. The bill therefore does not consolidate …
• ✓ Passes · Due process and takings
  The bill provides clear statutory direction to the Department of Energy and does not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process. It does not confiscate property or impose a public-use taking. It only adjusts the regulatory definition of a product and requires rulemaking to conform existing regulations, with no retroactive or arbitrary effect.

Sources: Congress.gov: HR 4593 summary