Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§13336 Coalbed methane recovery

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 134— - ENERGY POLICY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VI— - COAL › Part Part A— - Research, Development, Demonstration, and Commercial Application › § 13336

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must, after talking with the EPA Administrator and the Secretary of the Interior, study what technical, economic, legal, regulatory, institutional, or other problems stop coalbed methane recovery and look at ways to remove those problems. The Secretary must also study the environmental and safety effects of burning off (flaring) methane released from coal mines. Starting one year after October 24, 1992, the Secretary must give the public information on modern recovery methods, including their costs and benefits. The Secretary must also set up a demonstration and commercial program that focuses on gas enrichment. The program must work on four things: making medium-quality mine methane good enough for pipelines; using mine ventilation air in nearby power plants (for example, gas turbines, internal combustion engines, or other coal-fired plants); cofiring mine methane with coal in regular or clean-coal boilers; and other mine-methane technologies the Secretary finds useful.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §13336

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Interior, shall conduct a study of—

(1)technical, economic, financial, legal, regulatory, institutional, or other barriers to coalbed methane recovery, and of policy options for eliminating such barriers; and

(2)the environmental and safety aspects of flaring coalbed methane liberated from coal mines.

(b)Beginning one year after October 24, 1992, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Interior, shall disseminate to the public information on state-of-the-art coalbed methane recovery techniques, including information on costs and benefits.

(c)The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish a coalbed methane recovery demonstration and commercial application program, which shall emphasize gas enrichment technology. Such program shall address—

(1)gas enrichment technologies for enriching medium-quality methane recovered from coal mines to pipeline quality;

(2)technologies to use mine ventilation air in nearby power generation facilities, including gas turbines, internal combustion engines, or other coal fired powerplants;

(3)technologies for cofiring methane recovered from mines, including methane from ventilation systems and degasification systems, together with coal in conventional or clean coal technology boilers; and

(4)other technologies for producing and using methane from coal mines that the Secretary considers appropriate.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 13336

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73