Cord Byrd: “I appreciate the fiscal constraints facing this bill and the difficult task that our chairman has accomplished in a fair…”

“I appreciate the fiscal constraints facing this bill and the difficult task that our chairman has accomplished in a fair and bipartisan manner. However, I would hope that we could take a second look at this methane recovery program. Mr. President, this program is not a new start as the House committee report suggests. Congress appropriated money specifically for the Coal Mine Methane Program in fiscal year 1995. Some of the funds for this initiative were obligated prior to the rescission bill enacted in 1995. While the Department may have gotten off to a slow start with this program, for the past 18 months it has had five teams under contract to prepare phase II detailed project designs. The original appropriation to initiate these projects has been exhausted, and the funds requested for fiscal year 1988 are necessary to complete the ongoing project designs. I am told that the five teams have provided cost-sharing in excess of thirty percent. The Department of Energy has indicated that the Coal Mine Methane Program can make a significant contribution to the effort to curtail greenhouse gases and estimates that within five years coal mine methane collection and utilization systems could reduce emissions by an amount equivalent to 5.5 million tons of carbon dioxide [CO2] each year. The Department's research is expected to demonstrate that the private sector can, remarkably, generate profit by utilizing and destroying these waste gases.”