A hearing officer with the federal Environmental Protection Agency has ruled in favor of the agency in its dispute with General Electric on the next phase of cleaning up the Housatonic River.

The 10-page decision said the EPA’s cleanup plan is reasonable and backed up by data. General Electric, which contaminated the Housatonic when it ran a factory in Pittsfield decades ago, said it was disappointed by the decision.

The company favors a less-expensive alternative, which includes dumping PCB-contaminated material locally, instead of trucking it elsewhere.

Jim Murphy, a spokesperson with the EPA in Boston, outlined the next step for the agency.

“We’re taking a look at the dispute decision right now, and then we could modify that draft plan as necessary. And then we’ll issue the final permit modification,” Murphy said.

After that, GE could still appeal to an EPA board in Washington, and then on to a federal appeals court.