COLUMBUS — The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied efforts by other parties in the regional standards lawsuit to deny HARDI's opportunity to present its case before the court. It also reissued an order requesting all parties involved in the regional standards lawsuit agree to a briefing schedule within the next 30 days.

“HARDI has consistently worked to expedite these proceedings as much as possible while fighting for what our members believe is right,” said Jon Melchi, HARDI’s government affairs director. “We could have completed this portion of the process by now — absent the newly-denied motion — so now we just have to focus on doing everything we can to help the court move as expeditiously as possible.”

The order, issued on Aug. 19, is nearly identical to the May 1 order, according to HARDI. The association noted that it attempted to comply with the initial order, but has been delayed by more than 100 days as the court assessed the now-denied motions from other parties.

“This is another affirmation by the court of HARDI’s standing in this case and the merits of our arguments,” said Brian Cobble, G.W. Berkheimer Co. and HARDI’s 2013 president. “It is regrettable that other parties chose to delay the court proceedings by attempting to reverse the court’s earlier decision. 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.”

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