303 



the Secretary of the Interior to contract for local research would be 

 '"higlily desirable." Legislation to accomplish this purpose had been 

 endorsed by his Administration.^" 



Finally,*in 1960, the purposes sought in the 1957 subcommittee re- 

 port reached legislative enactment. A bill introduced by Representa- 

 tiA-e Saylor (H.R. 3375) would expand coal research by the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior, by contract ; advisory committees would assist in 

 shaping the program. As reported by the House committee, February 

 4, 1960, the bill did not require creation of a new agency, but the com- 

 mittee report quoted the testimony of the Department as offering 

 assurances that "If the authority contained in H.R. 3375 is conferred 

 upon the Secretary of the Interior, it is our intention to establish 

 administratively within the Department of the Interior an Office of 

 Coal Research * * * directly responsible to the Secretary * * *," ^^ The 

 House passed the bill by voice vote, February 15. In the Senate com- 

 mittee, the bill was amended to make mandatory the creation of an 

 Office of Coal Research, and in this form the bill was reported. May 

 31, and passed by the Senate by voice vote, June 27. The House agreed 

 to the modified version, June 29, by voice vote, and the bill was ac- 

 cepted by the President, July 7.^- 



Praviswns of the Coal Research Act 



In its final form, H.R. 3375 directed the Secretary of the Interior 

 to establish an Office of Coal Research to — 



(1) Develop, through research, new and more eflficient methods of mining, 

 preparing, and utilizing coal ; 



(2) Contract for, sponsor, cosponsor, and promote the coordination of, research 

 Trith recognized interested groups, including, but not limited to, coal trade asso- 

 ciations, coal research associations, educational institutions, and agencies of 

 States and political subdivisions of States ; 



(3) Establish technical advisory committees composed of recognized exi)erts 

 in various aspects of coal researcli to assist in the examination and evaluation 

 of research progress and of all research proposals and contracts and to insure 

 the avoidance of duplication of research ; and 



iA) Cooperate to the fullest extent possible with other departments, agencies, 

 and independent establishments of the Federal Government and with State 

 governments, and with all other interested agencies, governmental and 

 nongovernmental. 



Although earlier versions of the bill had proposed that research con- 

 tracts should be preferentially placed in distressed areas, the final 

 version (sec. 5) provided that "research authorized by this act may 

 be conducted wherever suitable personnel and facilities are available." 



Implementation of the Coal Research Act 



Some dissatisfaction was expressed in Confess at the deliberate 

 pace with which the Department of the Interior proceeded to carry 

 out the authority conferred by H.R. 3375. However, the act had been 

 passed shortly before the opening of the presidential election cam- 

 paign of 1960, and a new Administraition was in prospect after Novem- 

 ber. Shortly after the new Administration took office, a series of hear- 



*" Memorandum of disapproval of bill creating a Coal Research and Development Commis- 

 sion. Sept. 16. 1959, in "U.S. Public Papers of the Presidents, Dwight David Elsenhower, 

 1959" (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959), p. 660. 



^ U.S. Congress. House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. "Encouraging and 

 Stimulating the Production and Conservation of Coal in the United States Through ResearcL 

 and Development bv Authorizing the Secretary of the Interior To Contract for Coal Re- 

 search." Feb. 4, 1960, H. Rept. 1241, 86th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington, U.S. Government 

 Printing Office. 1960), pp. 2-3. 



*2 Public Law 86-599, 74 Stat. 336. 



