Washington (CNN)The Environmental Protection Agency will not regulate perchlorate, a water contaminant that "has been linked to fetal and infant brain damage, The New York Times reported Thursday.

       The Times, citing conversations with people familiar with the matter, said the agency plans to acknowledge that the chemical, "can cause I.Q. damage," but will not issue a regulation for it. The decision appears to defy an earlier court order requiring the agency to produce guidance for the chemical by June, the Times reported.

       While the chemical can occur naturally, high concentrations of perchlorate have been found in more than two dozen states, usually near "military installations where it has been used as an additive in rocket fuel, making propellants more reliable," the Times said.

       A spokesperson for the EPA said in a statement to CNN that the agency "has not yet made a final decision" on the potential regulation and that it plans to send the White House its final action "shortly" for review.

       Agency employees told the Times that it plans to tell the White House in its forthcoming notice that it's "not in the public interest" to control the chemical.

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       The Obama administration had announced plans to regulate the chemical in 2011, and the new decision would revoke an Obama-era finding that the chemical "presents serious health risks to between 5 million and 16 million people and should be regulated," the Times reported. In doing so, the administration will point to recent studies that claim "concentrations of the chemical in water must be at higher levels than previously thought in order to be considered unsafe."

       The decision comes as the administration continues to grapple with the deadly coronavirus pandemic and represents just the latest move by federal officials not to advance environmental regulations in the midst of the crisis.

       CNN reported earlier this month that the Trump administration, amid the pandemic, has also continued its quest to limit restrictions on the fossil fuel industry, which is the source of much of the pollution that a recent study said is linked to severe cases of coronavirus.

       The EPA has said its moves protect public health and are reasonable regulatory decisions that respect the law, but some scientists and legal experts say the moves reflect a dangerous disregard for science in the middle of the pandemic, and could be used to further weaken protections down the road.

       CNN's Ellie Kaufman and Drew Kann contributed to this report.

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