A federal appeals court is asking parties involved in the regional HVAC efficiency standards lawsuit to agree on a briefing schedule soon.

On Monday, the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals asked for briefing schedule within 30 days on these issues:

●The proposed settlement between the American Public Gas Association and the U.S. Department of Energy that saw the government abandon plans for regional furnace efficiency standards.

●The Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International’s request to continue the lawsuit.

●The merits of HARDI’s case.

The court made a similar request May 1.

Brian Cobble, HARDI’s current president and president of G.W. Berkheimer Co., said the wholesaler group was pleased with the court’s order.

“This is another affirmation by the court of HARDI’s standing in this case and the merits of our arguments,” Cobble said. “It is regrettable that other parties chose to delay the court proceedings by attempting to reverse the court’s earlier decision but now the path is cleared for the court to hopefully conclude this issue well in advance of the next 2015 implementation deadline in the favor of those who are likely to be most harmed by these unprecedented regionalized efficiency standards.”