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Waste Mine Methane Policy I BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Page 1 of 4 <br />U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <br />V�U BUREAU OF <br />LAND <br />MANAGEMENT <br />WASTE MINE METHANE POLICY <br />IM 2017-037 <br />Instruction Memorandum <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT <br />Washington, D.C. 20240 <br />http://www.blm.gov (http://www.bim.00v) <br />January 20, 2017 <br />In Reply Refer To: <br />3400 (300) P <br />EMS Transmission 01 /23/2017 <br />Instruction Memorandum No. 2017- 037 <br />Expires: 09/30/2020 <br />To: State Directors <br />From: Acting Deputy Director, Operations <br />Subject: Waste Mine Methane Policy <br />Program Area: Coal Management, Solid Leasable Minerals Management <br />Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) establishes national policies and processes to foster voluntary activities by operators <br />to capture waste mine methane from underground coal or other solid mineral mines. These policies will allow waste mine methane <br />to be put to productive use, where economical, and reduce environmental impacts, while ensuring continued safe underground <br />mining operations on Federal lands. <br />Policy/Action: For purposes of this IM, waste mine methane (WMM) is defined as methane released as a direct consequence of <br />underground mining before, during, and after the mining of coal or other solid leasable minerals. Due to the relatively smaller <br />volumes and difficulties in collecting methane released from surface mining operations, this IM applies only to underground mining. <br />WMM has historically been ventilated to the atmosphere from underground mines to protect the health and safety of mine workers. <br />h4s://www.blm.gov/policy/im-2017-037 6/16/2017 <br />