The Department of Energy is withdrawing a regulation overturning sex discrimination protections in sports after receiving thousands of letters of protest on the plan.
In a Federal Register notice, DOE said it was pulling the direct final rule issued in May to “focus its limited resources on other priorities.” The rule would have scrapped standards requiring DOE funding recipients such as universities to allow all genders to participate on sports teams.
“This withdrawal action does not preclude DOE from proposing regulatory changes in the future, including proposing a rule(s) that may be substantially identical or similar to those previously proposed,” the notice states.
The May rule was one of several aiming to overturn DOE standards for civil rights protections, including a separate 45-year-old regulation intended to ensure accessibility to buildings. The fate of those other Trump rules remains unclear.
