WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has denied a request by Cheniere Energy, a leading U.S. producer of liquefied natural gas, to exempt two Gulf Coast plants from a federal air pollution rule. An EPA spokesman says the agency on Tuesday denied Cheniere’s request to waive a rule that limits emissions of cancer-causing formaldehyde released by gas-fired turbines. Dozens of turbine operators faced a Monday deadline to comply with the formaldehyde rule, which is being reinstated after an 18-year stay. Cheniere had warned that new requirements on LNG plants in Texas and Louisiana could disrupt gas supplies to Europe, which has struggled with surging energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.