KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A federal judge in Washington has put a proposed coal-fired power plant in southwest Kansas on hold until an environmental impact study has been completed.

U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service violated federal law by failing to perform such a study before giving Sunflower Electric Corp. permission to expand in Holcomb.

RUS must sign off on decisions related to the Sunflower project because it provided past financial support and oversaw corporate reorganizations.

Sullivan's ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club forbids the agency from issuing additional approvals for the plant or taking any other major federal actions until the environmental study is complete.

Sunflower officials say it's too early to know how the ruling will impact the project.

For more, see Wednesday's Hays Daily News.