II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3915 

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 24, 2022 

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 2022’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Mining Schools Act of 2022’’. 

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)); and 

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 2020 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 shall establish a program to 

16 strengthen domestic mining education under which the 

17 Secretary shall award competitive grants to mining schools 

18 for the purpose of recruiting and educating the next gen19 eration of mining engineers and other qualified profes20 sionals to meet the future energy and mineral needs of 

21 the United States. 

22 (c) GRANTS.— 

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

24 program established under subsection (b), the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Mar 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3915.IS S3915

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1 retary shall award not more than 10 grants each 

2 year to mining schools. 

3 (2) SELECTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex5 tent practicable, the Secretary shall select re6 cipients for grants under paragraph (1) to en7 sure geographic diversity among grant recipi8 ents to ensure that region-specific specialties 

9 are developed for region-specific geology. 

10 (B) TIMELINE.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

12 award the first grants under paragraph (1) 

13 by not later than 1 year after the date of 

14 enactment of this Act. 

15 (ii) SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.—Each 

16 year following the first year in which 

17 grants are awarded pursuant to clause (i), 

18 the Secretary shall award subsequent 

19 grants by not later than 1 year after the 

20 date on which the grants were awarded the 

21 previous year. 

22 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE BOARD.—In 

23 selecting recipients for grants under paragraph (1) 

24 and determining the amount of each grant, the Sec25 retary shall take into consideration the recommendaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Mar 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3915.IS S3915

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1 tions of the Board under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

2 of subsection (d)(3). 

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

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

5 funds— 

6 (A) to recruit students to the mining 

7 school; and 

8 (B) to enhance and support programs re9 lated to, as applicable— 

10 (i) mining, mineral extraction effi11 ciency, and related processing technology; 

12 (ii) emphasizing critical mineral and 

13 rare earth element exploration, extraction, 

14 and refining; 

15 (iii) reclamation technology and prac16 tices for active mining operations; 

17 (iv) the development of reprocessing 

18 systems and technologies that facilitate 

19 reclamation that fosters the recovery of re20 sources at abandoned mine sites; 

21 (v) mineral extraction methods that 

22 reduce environmental and human impacts; 

23 (vi) technologies to extract, refine, 

24 separate, melt, or produce minerals, in25 cluding rare earth elements; 


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1 (vii) reducing dependence on foreign 

2 energy and mineral supplies through in3 creased domestic critical mineral produc4 tion; 

5 (viii) enhancing the competitiveness of 

6 United States energy and mineral tech7 nology exports; 

8 (ix) the extraction or processing of co9 inciding mineralization, including rare 

10 earth elements, within coal, coal processing 

11 byproduct, overburden, or coal residue; 

12 (x) enhancing technologies and prac13 tices relating to mitigation of acid mine 

14 drainage, reforestation, and revegetation in 

15 the reclamation of land and water re16 sources adversely affected by mining; 

17 (xi) enhancing exploration and charac18 terization of new or novel deposits, includ19 ing rare earth elements and critical min20 erals within phosphate rocks, uranium21 bearing deposits, and other nontraditional 

22 sources; 

23 (xii) meeting challenges of extreme 

24 mining conditions, such as deeper deposits 

25 or offshore or cold region mining; and 


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1 (xiii) mineral economics, including 

2 analysis of supply chains, future mineral 

3 needs, and unconventional mining re4 sources. 

5 (d) MINING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ADVI6 SORY BOARD.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an advi8 sory board, to be known as the ‘‘Mining Professional 

9 Development Advisory Board’’. 

10 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be com11 posed of 6 members, to be appointed by the Sec12 retary not later than 180 days after the date of en13 actment of this Act, of whom— 

14 (A) 3 shall be individuals who are actively 

15 working in the mining profession and for the 

16 mining industry; and 

17 (B) 3 shall have experience in academia 

18 implementing and operating professional skills 

19 training and education programs in the mining 

20 sector. 

21 (3) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

22 (A) evaluate grant applications received 

23 under subsection (c) and make recommenda24 tions to the Secretary for selection of grant re25 cipients under that subsection; 


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1 (B) propose the amount of the grant for 

2 each applicant recommended to be selected 

3 under subparagraph (A); and 

4 (C) perform oversight to ensure that grant 

5 funds awarded under subsection (c) are used 

6 for the purposes described in paragraph (4) of 

7 that subsection. 

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

9 for a term of 4 years. 

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

11 (A) shall not affect the powers of the 

12 Board; and 

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

14 the original appointment was made by not later 

15 than 180 days after the date on which the va16 cancy occurs. 

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

19 appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 

20 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2030. 

21 (2) REQUIREMENT.—At the end of each fiscal 

22 year, any amounts made available under paragraph 

23 (1) for that fiscal year that are not awarded as 


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1 grants under subsection (c) shall be returned to the 

2 Treasury. 

Æ 


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