Washington (CNN) The Environment Protection Agency plans to limit the scientific research that the government can use to form public health regulations, The New York Times reported Monday.

A draft of the EPA's proposal obtained by the Times would require scientists to disclose their raw data, including confidential medical records, in order for the agency to consider a study's conclusions. The move would complicate the enactment of new clean air and water regulations, which are largely rooted in academic studies that rely on confidentiality agreements because of personal health disclosures.

to a separate EPA memo viewed by the Times. The draft proposal obtained by the Times expands on a previous version championed by then-Administrator Scott Pruitt, who lost his job last year amid a lengthy list of ethics controversies. But unlike the earlier draft, the new plan would apply retroactively, halting the further use of studies already cited by the EPA that don't comply with the new proposal, accordingto a separate EPA memo viewed by the Times.

While publishing data is common in many branches of science, health-related scientists are subject to patient privacy restrictions and may not publish the raw data.

The EPA said in a statement to CNN on Monday that the agency "is committed to science transparency and is working to finalize the supplemental in 2020."

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