The Trump administration has paused implementation of a rule limiting miners’ exposure to airborne silica dust days after a federal court agreed to put it on hold to hear an industry challenge. The protections are meant to head off a surge in cases of black lung disease. Meanwhile, any enforcement of new standards might be meager due to workforce cuts.

Enforcement of the new protections is officially halted until at least mid-August, according to a federal announcement that came a few days after a federal court agreed to put enforcement on hold to hear an industry challenge. But even if the rule takes full force after the delay, the federal agency tasked with enforcing it in Appalachia and elsewhere may not be up to the task after sweeping layoffs and office closures.