The U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ordered the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to stop a study on potential health risks for residents living near surface coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains.
The decision to halt all work on the study is pending an agency-wide review by the Interior Department of its grants or projects costing more than $100,000. The review comes after President Donald Trump proposed a $1.6 billion budget cut to the Department of the Interior, according to The Washington Post.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine will still carry on with meetings in Kentucky Aug. 21 through Aug. 23, with the hope that the review will end soon and the study can advance as planned.
The academy does not know when the review will be completed, according to The Washington Post.