On July 10, APGA and co-petitioners submitted a reply brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in our legal challenge of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) final efficiency standard for non-weatherized residential furnaces (the Furnace Rule).
Recall that APGA is jointly challenging DOE’s final Furnace Rule with the American Gas Association, National Propane Gas Association, and others. Consolidated with this challenge are also challenges to DOE’s final commercial water heating equipment efficiency standard and the agency’s withdrawal of the “interpretive rule,” which would have ensured consumer access to certain appliance technology. Read more about the legal challenge here.
Through the reply brief, APGA pushed back against the agency’s flawed justifications for the Furnace Rule and other contested rules. The brief continues to argue that noncondensing technology provides a characteristic valued by consumers that must be protected by law. Accordingly, we continue to ask the Court to vacate the flawed DOE rulemakings.
APGA’s reply brief is available here.
The next step in the legal challenge is oral argument, which is anticipated to be scheduled for early fall.
If you have questions regarding this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at rlani@apga.org.