By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — The Sierra Club said today it has reached a settlement in its lawsuit seeking to force the Environmental Protection Agency to approve or disapprove Arkansas’ plan for reducing smog and haze in the air.

Under the agreement reached Wednesday, the EPA is to issue a final decision approving or disapproving Arkansas’ air plan by Dec. 15.

The plan would require major sources of air pollution, including large coal plants, to reduce emissions that impair visibility, including fine particulates, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The plan is not federally enforceable without the EPA’s approval.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to take action on the plan by March 22 of this year, but it failed to meet the deadline. The Sierra Club filed the federal lawsuit in December in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

“Today we have taken a momentous step towards protecting Arkansans’ health,” Sierra Club representative Lev Guter said today. “Defending our air quality from large pollution sources such as coal plants is crucial for better health, especially in the intense summer sun that exacerbates ground-level ozone.”

The Sierra Club is involved in lawsuits in federal and state courts seeking to halt Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s construction of a $2 billion, 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Hempstead County. The air plan would not apply to that plant but would apply to a SWEPCO plant near Gentry.

SWEPCO spokesman Peter Main said today the company has been waiting for EPA’s decision so it will know what requirements it will have to meet.

“We certainly hope the upcoming draft plan includes emissions limits and compliance time frames that are realistic and cost-effective, considering the impact on customers, the economy and electric system reliability,” he said.