§16294 Research and Development for Coal Mining Technologies

Summary

The Secretary must run a research and development program on coal mining technologies. The Secretary must work with federal agencies, coal producers, trade groups, equipment makers, colleges that teach mining engineering, and other relevant partners. Research must follow priorities from the Mining Industry of the Future Program and National Academy of Sciences reports. It must study ways to reduce contaminants in mined coal, develop and test electromagnetic wave imaging ahead of mining, and create coal-bed electromagnetic imaging, spectroscopic reservoir analysis, and horizontal drilling methods to find high-gas areas, improve methane recovery, protect coal reserves, and cut water disposal from methane extraction. The program must also grow mining research at colleges and universities.