WASHINGTON >> Federal officials on Wednesday released a far-reaching proposal to make cigarettes far less addictive by capping their nicotine content, a goal long sought by antismoking advocates that is unlikely to go into effect anytime soon.

The proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration comes in the final days of President Joe Biden’s term, reducing the likelihood that it will actually be enacted. President-elect Donald Trump and his health nominees have not commented on the measure, but a similar effort led by Trump’s first FDA commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, was sidelined during his first term.

Trump’s health secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has said little about how regulating tobacco fits into his plans to overhaul the government’s approach to fchronic disease. Even if the effort goes ahead under Trump, tobacco companies like Reynolds American and Altria are almost certain to challenge it in court, delaying implementation.

The FDA has spent years studying the issue and said Wednesday that cutting nicotine would help nearly 13 million current smokers quit cigarettes within one year. Roughly 48 million more young people would never take up the habit because cigarettes would essentially become nonaddictive, according to agency projections.

“This action, if finalized, could save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told reporters Wednesday.

Under the agency’s plan, nicotine in cigarettes would be capped at levels that “could no longer create and sustain this addiction among people who smoke.” Companies would have two years to reformulate their products after the publication of a final regulation. The agency posted its 334-page proposal online Wednesday morning and said will take public comments for nine months before taking any further steps.

Antismoking advocates overwhelmingly back the idea and urged Kennedy to help implement it, if he is confirmed.