At the same time, the administration will hold off until no later than March on a rule to cut pollution from power plants that would accomplish some of the same ends as Bush's anti-pollution plan, the officials said.

The White House on Saturday told the Environmental Protection Agency of its game plan, which is meant to allow time for Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., sponsor of Bush's "Clear Skies" initiative, to hold hearings on it in January.

"The president decided to make a strong push at the start of next year to complete his clean air and clean energy agenda," said EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt, who met with Bush to discuss the strategy earlier in the week.

"The centerpiece will be 'Clear Skies' legislation and/or the 'Clean Air Interstate Rule,' " Leavitt added in an interview. "Both of those will provide a 70 percent reduction of nitrogen oxides and of sulfur dioxide. It would be a $50 billion investment in clean air; it would take more tons of pollution out of the air."

The Clean Air Interstate Rule would call for reducing pollution according to a timetable and strategy that closely mirror the proposals the administration offered nearly three years ago in a Clear Skies initiative that stalled in Congress.

Environmentalists, however, say the Bush legislative proposal carried by Inhofe goes farther than the rule, weakening parts of the Clean Air Act.

"The Bush administration is now staking its money on a bill in Congress that weakens and delays public health protections already provided under the current Clean Air Act, while forcing the EPA to delay public health protections under current law," said John Walke, director of clean air programs for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Administration officials hope Inhofe can get the bill onto the Senate floor soon.

But Bill Becker, head of associations representing state and local air pollution control officials, said: "It is disappointing that the Clean Air Interstate Rule is being delayed by as much as three months, especially given the controversy surrounding Clear Skies legislation and how it weakens the existing Clean Air Act."