Morgantown, W.Va. (AP) — Federal mining regulators have told the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to halt its study of the health risks for people living near Appalachian surface coal mines.

The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, which announced last year it was funding the $1 million study, said in an Aug. 18 letter that the department has begun reviewing grants over $100,000 largely for budget reasons.

"The National Academies believes this is an important study and we stand ready to resume it as soon as the Department of the In...