FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- The U.S Senate's top Republican is calling again for the Environmental Protection Agency to back off a "heavy-handed regulatory process" that he said is costing jobs in the private sector.

Sen. Mitch McConnell urged his colleagues Wednesday to force the EPA to rewrite stringent regulatory standards on emissions from coal-fired power plants.

The Senate voted down a resolution Wednesday that would have prevented the EPA from implementing the so-called "Utility MACT" regulation that McConnell and others insist is part of a "war on coal."

Another coal state lawmaker, Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, said the EPA regulation shouldn't be blocked because it protects people from harmful emissions.

Rockefeller said he takes that stand because he cares so much about his state, where mining remains a major industry.