After investigating emissions at multiple Wisconsin facilities, the Environmental Protection Agency filed Wednesday to postpone issuing new regulations to air pollution in order to gather more information.

The new regulations are intended to reduce smog, soot and mercury emitted from boilers and solid waste incinerators.

The EPA had sent a letter to the state Department of Administration Nov. 30 asking for information to confirm whether the emission sources at certain facilities are complying with the federal Clean Air Act, including several facilities in the University of Wisconsin System.

However, after receiving more data during the public comment section of the review period, the organization may need to reassess the proposed rules to cut down on air pollution, according to the EPA.

“We want to ensure these rules are practical to implement and protect all Americans from dangerous pollutants such as mercury and soot, which affect kids’ development, aggravate asthma and cause heart attacks,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, in a statement.

A federal court order required the EPA to finalize new standards by January 2011, so the EPA proposed new rules in August to meet that deadline.

The information the EPA received, including more than 4,800 public comments, indicated a number of key areas of the rules might need to be revamped, including the scope and coverage of the rules and categorizing boiler-types, according to the EPA.

Several Wisconsin representatives came out in support of the decision to delay finalizing the new pollution regulations, citing the potential negative effects of the rules on the state’s paper industry.

Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., said in a statement the EPA admitted the regulations were forumalted without all the necessary information.

“Given the potential impacts that these regulations will have on the paper industry and to the development of biomass energy, the EPA needs to carefully consider the full range of information before making final decisions,” Kohl said.

Rep. Louis Molepske, D-Stevens Point, agreed with Kohl, saying the EPA’s ultimate decision regarding the regulations will have a significant impact on the paper industry in Wisconsin and should be made with all due deliberation.