EPA, Sierra Club seek to deny Oklahoma AG's delay of pollution rule

The Sierra Club joined the Environmental Protection Agency in asking an appeals court to deny requests by Attorney General Scott Pruitt and Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. to block the plan.

The group and EPA submitted to the court late Thursday their opposition to requests for a postponement that Pruitt and OG&E filed last month.

Pruitt and the utility want the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant a stay on the pollution-reduction requirement, known as a “final rule,” that the EPA imposed in December.

The requirement affects three power plants. Two are operated near Pawnee and Muskogee by OG&E, and one is operated near Oologah by American Electric Power-Public Service Co. of Oklahoma.

Pruitt and OG&E asked the court in April to delay the requirement until the judges decide whether to overturn it, as requested by the attorney general and utility.

Judges are not expected to decide until late this year or early next year whether to overturn the requirement. A stay would keep it from taking effect until the court decides.