EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt said final rules will be delayed by four months because of "the complexity of the issue and the desire to assure that it's done in the proper and informed way." The agency extended a public comment period set to end on Friday.
Democrats and environmental groups have complained that the rules are weak and make too many concessions to industry.
The delay stems from an offer this week from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the environmental group that sued the EPA in 1997. That lawsuit spurred the EPA to draft its mercury proposal.
The NRDC said it would permit a delay if the agency would rethink the proposal it originally released in late January.
The nation's 1,100 coal-burning power plants emit about 48 tons of mercury each year, the largest unregulated U.S. source.
The EPA had proposed two possible ways to reduce emissions -- a cap-and-trade system, and requiring utilities to install "maximum achievable control technology" at plants.
Both options are still under consideration, Leavitt said. "We will do what analysis is needed to assure that the proper decision is made," he told reporters on a telephone call.
Critics say the Bush administration shunned traditional rule-writing procedures and allowed utility officials to dictate terms to the detriment of public health.
"The rule wasn't even written by the EPA -- it was written on K Street," said Sen. James Jeffords, Vermont independent, referring to the Washington street lined with lobbyist offices.
"The Bush Administration has lost sight of its obligation to protect public health and safeguard the natural environment," Jeffords said, calling for tighter standards.
Utility lobbyists cautioned the EPA not to enact rules that were too strict.
"We think a two-thirds reduction in a decade and a half is a pretty steep cut in (mercury) emissions," said a spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, a utility lobbying group.
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