Health advocates want rules affecting coal-fired power plants

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Illinois environmental and health advocates are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt rules that would cut the amount of mercury and other pollutants emitted by coal-fired power plants.

Dozens of activists and residents gathered outside the EPA's Region 5 headquarters in Chicago on Thursday - the final day for public comment on the proposed rules. If adopted, they would allow the EPA to regulate toxic emissions such as mercury, lead, arsenic and acid gas from coal-fired plants.

Health advocates say lower emissions would reduce respiratory illnesses, birth defects and developmental problems in children. But some industry groups say the benefits are exaggerated.

The EPA could finalize the new rules by mid-November, although some activists fear Congress will vote to delay them for two years or longer.