EPA delays controversial proposal to limit what scientific research can be used

By Josh Siegel

Published October 17, 2018 2:51pm ET

In this Sept. 21, 2017, photo, a sign on a door of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. The EPA says it has recovered 517 containers of âunidentified, potentially hazardous materialâ from highly contaminated toxic waste sites in Texas that flooded last month during Hurricane Harvey. But the agency has not provided details about which Superfund sites the material came from, why the contaminants at issue have not been identified and whether thereâs a threat to human health. | (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

The Environmental Protection Agency has delayed a controversial proposal that would prohibit the agency from using scientific studies that do not make public the raw data used in research.

In an update to its plans issued Tuesday evening, the EPA shifted the proposal to the “long-term actions” section of its deregulatory agenda, and listed 2020 as its target time frame for issuing a final rule.