"WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it would again delay issuing a final limit on smog pollution opposed by manufacturers and many Republican lawmakers until the Obama administration has finished reviewing it.

In December, the agency said it would issue the rule by the end of July.

However, on Tuesday the EPA said the rule is going through interagency review at the White House Office of Management and Budget and that it will not issue the rule on Friday as it had intended.

'Following completion of this final step, EPA will finalize its reconsideration, but will not issue the final rule on July 29th, the date the agency had intended,' the EPA said in a release.'

Timothy Gardner reports for Reuters July 26, 2011. [2]