42 U.S.C. § 16294 — Research and development for coal mining technologies

(a) Setting up the program. The Secretary must run a research and development program on coal mining technologies. (b) Working together. The Secretary must cooperate with relevant federal agencies, coal producers, trade groups, equipment makers, universities with mining engineering programs, and other relevant groups. (c) What the research must cover. The program's activities must: (1) follow priorities set by the Mining Industry of the Future Program and National Academy of Sciences reports on mining; (2) explore how to reduce contaminants in mined coal, including developing electromagnetic wave imaging to see ahead of mining operations; (3) develop and test coal-bed electromagnetic imaging, spectroscopic analysis, and horizontal drilling techniques, in order to: (A) find areas with high coal gas content; (B) recover methane more efficiently; (C) prevent domestic coal reserves from spoiling; and (D) reduce water disposal from methane extraction; and (4) expand mining research capability at colleges and universities.