The head of the Environmental Protection Agency denied Thursday that the agency delayed formal publication of carbon pollution rules for new power plants for political reasons, as Republican senators have claimed.

The proposed rules would impose tough requirements on new coal-fired power plants, setting the first-ever limits on carbon dioxide and other pollutants blamed for global warming.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the agency submitted the rules for publication last fall and "tried very hard" to get them published in the Federal Register. The rules were finally published last week, but are unlikely to be finalized until after the 2014 elections.

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