U.S. EPA will get another two weeks to hammer out a timeline for completing greenhouse gas rules for power plants that agrees with states and environmental groups suing the agency to implement standards for power plants' heat-trapping emissions.

The coalition notified the Department of Justice today that it would not resume litigation until Oct. 28 "to reflect the parties' understanding of the additional time needed to allow petitioners and EPA to complete negotiations."

In a letter to EPA two weeks ago, the group effectively gave the agency a deadline of today to produce a new timeline before it might resume litigation.

EPA has exceeded a number of deadlines set by a settlement agreement between it and the petitioners, which are led by New York state.

One missed agreement called for EPA to propose its standard for utilities by Sept. 30. It has not said when it will release the standard or whether it will also need more time to finalize it. The rule was to have been finalized by May 26, 2012, under the terms of the original settlement agreement.

"EPA is continuing to work with petitioners on a new schedule for issuing the proposed greenhouse gas pollution standards for power plants," the agency said in a statement this afternoon. "The agency plans to announce its next steps shortly."

EPA pledged to consider information from all sides to help it craft "smart, cost-effective and protective standards."