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Calendar No. 292 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 912 

[Report No. 118–139] 

To require the Secretary of Energy to provide technology grants to strengthen 

domestic mining education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2023 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. KELLY, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, 

Ms. SINEMA, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. CRAMER, and 

Mr. ROMNEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 18, 2023 

Reported by Mr. MANCHIN, without amendment 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to provide technology 

grants to strengthen domestic mining education, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Technology Grants to 

3 Strengthen Domestic Mining Education Act of 2023’’ or 

4 the ‘‘Mining Schools Act of 2023’’. 

5 SEC. 2. TECHNOLOGY GRANTS TO STRENGTHEN DOMESTIC 

6 MINING EDUCATION. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

9 Mining Professional Development Advisory Board 

10 established by subsection (d)(1). 

11 (2) MINING INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘mining in12 dustry’’ means the mining industry of the United 

13 States, consisting of the search for, and extraction, 

14 beneficiation, refining, smelting, and processing of, 

15 naturally occurring metal and nonmetal minerals 

16 from the earth. 

17 (3) MINING PROFESSION.—The term ‘‘mining 

18 profession’’ means the body of jobs directly relevant 

19 to— 

20 (A) the exploration, planning, execution, 

21 and remediation of metal and nonmetal mining 

22 sites; and 

23 (B) the extraction, including the separa24 tion, refining, alloying, smelting, concentration, 

25 and processing, of mineral ores. 

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1 (4) MINING SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘mining 

2 school’’ means— 

3 (A) a mining, metallurgical, geological, or 

4 mineral engineering program accredited by the 

5 Accreditation Board for Engineering and Tech6 nology, Inc., that is located at an institution of 

7 higher education (as defined in section 101 of 

8 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 1001)); or 

10 (B) a geology or engineering program or 

11 department that is located at a 4-year public in12 stitution of higher education (as so defined) lo13 cated in a State the gross domestic product of 

14 which in 2021 was not less than 

15 $2,000,000,000 in the combined categories of 

16 ‘‘Mining (except oil and gas)’’ and ‘‘Support ac17 tivities for mining’’, according to the Bureau of 

18 Economic Analysis. 

19 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Energy. 

21 (b) DOMESTIC MINING EDUCATION STRENGTHENING

22 PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec23 retary of the Interior (acting through the Director of the 

24 United States Geological Survey), shall— 

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1 (1) establish a grant program to strengthen do2 mestic mining education; and 

3 (2) under the program established in paragraph 

4 (1), award competitive grants to mining schools for 

5 the purpose of recruiting and educating the next 

6 generation of mining engineers and other qualified 

7 professionals to meet the future energy and mineral 

8 needs of the United States. 

9 (c) GRANTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the grant 

11 program established under subsection (b)(1), the 

12 Secretary shall award not more than 10 grants each 

13 year to mining schools. 

14 (2) SELECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex16 tent practicable, the Secretary shall select re17 cipients for grants under paragraph (1) to en18 sure geographic diversity among grant recipi19 ents to ensure that region-specific specialties 

20 are developed for region-specific geology. 

21 (B) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall 

22 award the grants under paragraph (1) by not 

23 later than the later of— 

24 (i) the date that is 180 days after the 

25 start of the applicable fiscal year; and 

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1 (ii) the date that is 180 days after the 

2 date on which the Act making full-year ap3 propriations for the Department of Energy 

4 for the applicable fiscal year is enacted. 

5 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE BOARD.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—In selecting recipients 

7 for grants under paragraph (1) and deter8 mining the amount of each grant, the Sec9 retary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall 

10 take into consideration the recommendations of 

11 the Board under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

12 subsection (d)(3). 

13 (B) SELECTION STATEMENT.—In selecting 

14 recipients for grants under paragraph (1), the 

15 Secretary shall— 

16 (i) in response to a recommendation 

17 from the Board, submit to the Board a 

18 statement that describes— 

19 (I) whether the Secretary accepts 

20 or rejects, in whole or in part, the rec21 ommendation of the Board; and 

22 (II) the justification and ration23 ale for any rejection, in whole or in 

24 part, of the recommendation of the 

25 Board; and 

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1 (ii) not later than 15 days after 

2 awarding a grant for which the Board sub3 mitted a recommendation, publish the 

4 statement submitted under clause (i) on 

5 the Department of Energy website. 

6 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—A mining school receiving 

7 a grant under paragraph (1) shall use the grant 

8 funds— 

9 (A) to recruit students to the mining 

10 school; and 

11 (B) to enhance and support programs re12 lated to, as applicable— 

13 (i) mining, mineral extraction effi14 ciency, and related processing technology; 

15 (ii) emphasizing critical mineral and 

16 rare earth element exploration, extraction, 

17 and refining; 

18 (iii) reclamation technology and prac19 tices for active mining operations; 

20 (iv) the development of reprocessing 

21 systems and technologies that facilitate 

22 reclamation that fosters the recovery of re23 sources at abandoned mine sites; 

24 (v) mineral extraction methods that 

25 reduce environmental and human impacts; 

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1 (vi) technologies to extract, refine, 

2 separate, smelt, or produce minerals, in3 cluding rare earth elements; 

4 (vii) reducing dependence on foreign 

5 energy and mineral supplies through in6 creased domestic critical mineral produc7 tion; 

8 (viii) enhancing the competitiveness of 

9 United States energy and mineral tech10 nology exports; 

11 (ix) the extraction or processing of co12 inciding mineralization, including rare 

13 earth elements, within coal, coal processing 

14 byproduct, overburden, or coal residue; 

15 (x) enhancing technologies and prac16 tices relating to mitigation of acid mine 

17 drainage, reforestation, and revegetation in 

18 the reclamation of land and water re19 sources adversely affected by mining; 

20 (xi) enhancing exploration and charac21 terization of new or novel deposits, includ22 ing rare earth elements and critical min23 erals within phosphate rocks, uranium24 bearing deposits, and other nontraditional 

25 sources; 

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1 (xii) meeting challenges of extreme 

2 mining conditions, such as deeper deposits 

3 or offshore or cold region mining; and 

4 (xiii) mineral economics, including 

5 analysis of supply chains, future mineral 

6 needs, and unconventional mining re7 sources. 

8 (d) MINING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ADVI9 SORY BOARD.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an advi11 sory board, to be known as the ‘‘Mining Professional 

12 Development Advisory Board’’. 

13 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com14 posed of 6 members, to be appointed by the Sec15 retary not later than 180 days after the date of en16 actment of this Act, of whom— 

17 (A) 3 shall be individuals who are actively 

18 working in the mining profession and for the 

19 mining industry; and 

20 (B) 3 shall have experience in academia 

21 implementing and operating professional skills 

22 training and education programs in the mining 

23 sector. 

24 (3) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

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1 (A) evaluate grant applications received 

2 under subsection (c) and make recommenda3 tions to the Secretary for selection of grant re4 cipients under that subsection; 

5 (B) propose the amount of the grant for 

6 each applicant recommended to be selected 

7 under subparagraph (A); and 

8 (C) perform oversight to ensure that grant 

9 funds awarded under subsection (c) are used 

10 for the purposes described in paragraph (4) of 

11 that subsection. 

12 (4) TERM.—A member of the Board shall serve 

13 for a term of 4 years. 

14 (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Board— 

15 (A) shall not affect the powers of the 

16 Board; and 

17 (B) shall be filled in the same manner as 

18 the original appointment was made by not later 

19 than 180 days after the date on which the va20 cancy occurs. 

21 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2031. 

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1 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF THE MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES 

2 RESEARCH INSTITUTE ACT OF 1984. 

3 The Mining and Mineral Resources Research Insti4 tute Act of 1984 (30 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) is repealed. 

Calendar No. 292 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 912 

[Report No. 118–139] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to provide techcation, and for other purposes. nology grants to strengthen domestic mining eduDECEMBER 18, 2023 

Reported without amendment