The Associated Press

The government should force Ohio to comply with Clean Air Act program requirements designed to make sure power plants, factories and large polluters don't exceed air pollution limits, an environmental group told an appeals court Thursday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has failed to follow the Clean Air Act by not formally finding that Ohio failed to issue operating permits for all polluters as required by law, said Keri Powell, lawyer for the Ohio Public Interest Research Group. The group sued the agency in 2002 in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

More than 13 years after Congress enacted the air pollution permit program and nine years after Ohio's plan for carrying it out was approved, the state has yet to issue the pollution permits to 86 of the approximately 700 major pollution sources in Ohio, Powell said.

States are responsible for enforcing air quality laws subject to the EPA's approval, but the government has the power to step in and take over enforcement if the states are unwilling or unable to do so, Powell told the court.

She asked the court to vacate the EPA's decision and direct the agency to reconsider it. If the EPA changes its position, it could direct Ohio to meet requirements within 18 months or risk having the government take over enforcement.