II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 912 

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 and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Strengthen Domestic Mining Education Act of 2023’’ or 

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

7 SEC. 2. TECHNOLOGY GRANTS TO STRENGTHEN DOMESTIC 

8 MINING EDUCATION. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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

2 Mining Professional Development Advisory Board 

3 established by subsection (d)(1). 

4 (2) MINING INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘mining in5 dustry’’ means the mining industry of the United 

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

7 beneficiation, refining, smelting, and processing of, 

8 naturally occurring metal and nonmetal minerals 

9 from the earth. 

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

11 profession’’ means the body of jobs directly relevant 

12 to— 

13 (A) the exploration, planning, execution, 

14 and remediation of metal and nonmetal mining 

15 sites; and 

16 (B) the extraction, including the separa17 tion, refining, alloying, smelting, concentration, 

18 and processing, of mineral ores. 

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

20 school’’ means— 

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

22 mineral engineering program accredited by the 

23 Accreditation Board for Engineering and Tech24 nology, Inc., that is located at an institution of 

25 higher education (as defined in section 101 of 


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

2 1001)); or 

3 (B) a geology or engineering program or 

4 department that is located at a 4-year public in5 stitution of higher education (as so defined) lo6 cated in a State the gross domestic product of 

7 which in 2021 was not less than 

8 $2,000,000,000 in the combined categories of 

9 ‘‘Mining (except oil and gas)’’ and ‘‘Support ac10 tivities for mining’’, according to the Bureau of 

11 Economic Analysis. 

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

13 the Secretary of Energy. 

14 (b) DOMESTIC MINING EDUCATION STRENGTHENING

15 PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Sec16 retary of the Interior (acting through the Director of the 

17 United States Geological Survey), shall— 

18 (1) establish a grant program to strengthen do19 mestic mining education; and 

20 (2) under the program established in paragraph 

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

22 the purpose of recruiting and educating the next 

23 generation of mining engineers and other qualified 

24 professionals to meet the future energy and mineral 

25 needs of the United States. 


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1 (c) GRANTS.— 

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

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

4 Secretary shall award not more than 10 grants each 

5 year to mining schools. 

6 (2) SELECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex8 tent practicable, the Secretary shall select re9 cipients for grants under paragraph (1) to en10 sure geographic diversity among grant recipi11 ents to ensure that region-specific specialties 

12 are developed for region-specific geology. 

13 (B) TIMELINE.—The Secretary shall 

14 award the grants under paragraph (1) by not 

15 later than the later of— 

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

17 start of the applicable fiscal year; and 

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

19 date on which the Act making full-year ap20 propriations for the Department of Energy 

21 for the applicable fiscal year is enacted. 

22 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE BOARD.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—In selecting recipients 

24 for grants under paragraph (1) and deter25 mining the amount of each grant, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S912.IS S912

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1 retary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall 

2 take into consideration the recommendations of 

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

4 subsection (d)(3). 

5 (B) SELECTION STATEMENT.—In selecting 

6 recipients for grants under paragraph (1), the 

7 Secretary shall— 

8 (i) in response to a recommendation 

9 from the Board, submit to the Board a 

10 statement that describes— 

11 (I) whether the Secretary accepts 

12 or rejects, in whole or in part, the rec13 ommendation of the Board; and 

14 (II) the justification and ration15 ale for any rejection, in whole or in 

16 part, of the recommendation of the 

17 Board; and 

18 (ii) not later than 15 days after 

19 awarding a grant for which the Board sub20 mitted a recommendation, publish the 

21 statement submitted under clause (i) on 

22 the Department of Energy website. 

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

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

25 funds— 


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1 (A) to recruit students to the mining 

2 school; and 

3 (B) to enhance and support programs re4 lated to, as applicable— 

5 (i) mining, mineral extraction effi6 ciency, and related processing technology; 

7 (ii) emphasizing critical mineral and 

8 rare earth element exploration, extraction, 

9 and refining; 

10 (iii) reclamation technology and prac11 tices for active mining operations; 

12 (iv) the development of reprocessing 

13 systems and technologies that facilitate 

14 reclamation that fosters the recovery of re15 sources at abandoned mine sites; 

16 (v) mineral extraction methods that 

17 reduce environmental and human impacts; 

18 (vi) technologies to extract, refine, 

19 separate, smelt, or produce minerals, in20 cluding rare earth elements; 

21 (vii) reducing dependence on foreign 

22 energy and mineral supplies through in23 creased domestic critical mineral produc24 tion; 


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1 (viii) enhancing the competitiveness of 

2 United States energy and mineral tech3 nology exports; 

4 (ix) the extraction or processing of co5 inciding mineralization, including rare 

6 earth elements, within coal, coal processing 

7 byproduct, overburden, or coal residue; 

8 (x) enhancing technologies and prac9 tices relating to mitigation of acid mine 

10 drainage, reforestation, and revegetation in 

11 the reclamation of land and water re12 sources adversely affected by mining; 

13 (xi) enhancing exploration and charac14 terization of new or novel deposits, includ15 ing rare earth elements and critical min16 erals within phosphate rocks, uranium17 bearing deposits, and other nontraditional 

18 sources; 

19 (xii) meeting challenges of extreme 

20 mining conditions, such as deeper deposits 

21 or offshore or cold region mining; and 

22 (xiii) mineral economics, including 

23 analysis of supply chains, future mineral 

24 needs, and unconventional mining re25 sources. 


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1 (d) MINING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ADVI2 SORY BOARD.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an advi4 sory board, to be known as the ‘‘Mining Professional 

5 Development Advisory Board’’. 

6 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com7 posed of 6 members, to be appointed by the Sec8 retary not later than 180 days after the date of en9 actment of this Act, of whom— 

10 (A) 3 shall be individuals who are actively 

11 working in the mining profession and for the 

12 mining industry; and 

13 (B) 3 shall have experience in academia 

14 implementing and operating professional skills 

15 training and education programs in the mining 

16 sector. 

17 (3) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

18 (A) evaluate grant applications received 

19 under subsection (c) and make recommenda20 tions to the Secretary for selection of grant re21 cipients under that subsection; 

22 (B) propose the amount of the grant for 

23 each applicant recommended to be selected 

24 under subparagraph (A); and 


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1 (C) perform oversight to ensure that grant 

2 funds awarded under subsection (c) are used 

3 for the purposes described in paragraph (4) of 

4 that subsection. 

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

6 for a term of 4 years. 

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

8 (A) shall not affect the powers of the 

9 Board; and 

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

11 the original appointment was made by not later 

12 than 180 days after the date on which the va13 cancy occurs. 

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

16 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2031. 

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

18 RESEARCH INSTITUTE ACT OF 1984. 

19 The Mining and Mineral Resources Research Insti20 tute Act of 1984 (30 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.) is repealed. 

Æ 


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