WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency finalized rules late Thursday to curb pollution from industrial boilers and cement plants, agreeing to give industry additional time for compliance and easing some emissions limits from earlier proposals.

The new rules, which have been enmeshed in a fierce regulatory and legal fight for more than a decade, drew criticism from environmentalists. Earthjustice staff attorney James Pew, who fought earlier versions in federal court, called the set of rules ‘‘an avalanche of bad news.’’