The Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., published a notice of intent to develop a WaterSense specification for spray sprinkler nozzles in November.
The notice is the first step in the process of creating the specification, which intends to identify and label high-efficiency spray sprinkler nozzles or those that deliver water on the landscape more efficiently than standard spray nozzle models.
“In 2014 there was a lack of data about savings for high-efficiency nozzles and no test method,” says Shayla Powell, public affairs specialist at the EPA. “Based on stakeholder feedback WaterSense felt it was better to move forward with a specification for spray sprinkler bodies while working on the open questions concerning nozzles. We now feel that significant progress has been made on those questions and that this was the right time to start the process for labeling.”
On December 14, the EPA hosted a virtual public meeting webinar regarding the notice of intent soliciting feedback from the public.
“At this point in the process, it is too early to characterize the feedback,” Powell says. “The purpose of the public meeting was to explain the NOI materials and provide space for the public to ask questions so they could formulate comments and provide additional data. We had about 175 attendees and there were a lot of questions and comments. We were very happy with the level of engagement shown by participants.”
Powell says that comments made by the public will be published in February after the comment period closes.
Since the NOI is the first step in the process, Powell says that there is still a lot of work to be done and the entire process takes around two years from an NOI until products actually start being labeled. Even then, the EPA might decide somewhere in the process not to label the product category at all.
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