US environmental regulators give up on simplifying hazardous waste rules

US environmental regulators are withdrawing a proposed rule that would have changed how hazardous waste is defined for cleanup sites. They decided the new rules would have made cleanups more complicated, not simpler.

For years, environmental regulators have tried to make the rules for cleaning up hazardous waste sites easier to understand and apply. This withdrawal means that effort has failed, at least for now. The existing, complex definitions will remain in place, which means cleanups will continue to be slow and expensive.