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03/11/2014

HARDI Announces Settlement with DOE in Regional Efficiency Standards Lawsuit

For Immediate Release

Contact:                                                                                                          

Whitney Neal, Digital Communications & PR Coordinator

wneal@hardinet.org

Jon Melchi, Director of Government Affairs

jmelchi@hardinet.org

 

HARDI Announces Settlement with DOE in Regional Efficiency Standards Lawsuit

Columbus, Ohio– Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) announced today that it reached a settlement in the long-running lawsuit regarding Regional Efficiency Standards for residential gas furnaces and central air-conditioners which were finalized by the Department of Energy (DOE) in October 2011. Represented by government accountability group Cause of Action, HARDI agreed to a settlement, which would remand the efficiency standards for gas furnaces, forcing the DOE to restart the process for assessing efficiency standards and to do so in a more transparent manner.

The settlement, which will take effect upon judicial approval, signifies a victory for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration distributors, who intervened in the lawsuit challenging the standards, citing DOE’s abuse of process in utilizing a regulatory procedure which ignored the input of distributors and other stakeholders.

Executive Director Dan Epstein of Cause of Action said:

“Due process in agency rulemaking exists to give all Americans a voice instead of merely relying upon the unelected elite.  The DOE effectively overruled the voices of American consumers and small businesses concerning energy efficiency standards, removing all accountability, which is why Cause of Action took up this case.  This settlement is a victory for thousands of businesses, consumers, and manufacturers as the DOE has agreed to a standard of transparency and accountability when creating new rules going forward.”

HARDI President Royce Henderson (Charles D. Jones Company) stated:

“Our goal from the start has been twofold. The first was to provide relief to our members who faced damages as a result of DOE’s actions. The second has been to fix the process, so this will never happen again. We believe this settlement accomplishes both goals to the greatest extent possible.”

Other terms of the settlement:

  • The increase and regionalization in the standards for central air-conditioners will remain, but the DOE has allowed for a “sell-through” period of 18-months and agreed to not-penalize HVACR distributors as part of the enforcement of the Regional Standard.
  • Additionally, the DOE has agreed to engage in a process to review the regulatory processes which established the regional efficiency standards.

The court document can be found here.

 

About HARDI:

Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) represents more than 460 wholesale companies and 300 manufacturing associates as well as nearly 140 manufacturer representatives. HARDI members represent an estimated 85 percent of the dollar value of the HVACR products sold through distribution.

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action a nonprofit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that investigates, exposes, and fights job-killing federal government regulations, waste, fraud, and cronyism.  Cause of Action, uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how transparency and accountability protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

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03/11/2014

Washington Free Beacon: Federal Support for Anti-Tobacco Advocacy Raises Legal Questions

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The solicitation mentioned “community smoke-free policies” and tax increases on tobacco sales as worthwhile legislative objectives for subgrantees.

 

Dan Epstein, executive director of the government watchdog group Cause of Action, said his group investigated similar allegations of federally funded lobbying efforts financed by Obamacare and the 2009 stimulus bill.

 

COA dug into Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grants through its stimulus-funded Communities Putting Prevention to Work program.

 

Ostensibly a “preventative health” project, CPPW “laundered money through so-called stealth lobbying coalitions, formed to skirt prohibitions on lobbying by non-profits, in order to promote local laws banning otherwise legal consumer products such as sodas, e-cigarettes, and fast food,” COA wrote in a report on the program.

 

“We already uncovered multiple organizations around the country that illegally lobbied with federal taxpayer dollars under the Communities Putting Prevention to Work program,” Epstein wrote in an email.

 

“We also know that entities in Missouri that received CPPW money have been offered federal funds by MFH efforts, so it is no surprise that the unchecked grant money going to MFH could now be used to violate the law again,” he said.

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03/10/2014

THV11: Rhea Lana controversy continues

Read the full story: THV11

In August, the U.S. Dept. of Labor in August sent Riner a letter, saying Riner’s volunteers are subject to receive pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

 

The D.C. based “Cause of Action” organization filed a lawsuit against the Department Of Labor in January.

 

“We believe that our consignment volunteers should not be considered employees and so that’s the bottom line issue,” Riner said.

 

“I’m 100 percent happy with the way it is. I don’t need to be paid,” Cole said. “I feel like the opportunity to go and shop at the consignment sale is plenty of payment.”

 

Now all Riner can do is wait to hear back from the U.S. Department of Labor.

 

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