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The Coal Authority is a Non- Departmental Public Body reporting to the UK Government through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The Authority owns the coal in Great Britain and licenses coal mining operations. In addition to statutory duties for subsidence damage and the provision of coal mining information, the Authority deals with many of the legacies from historic coal mining including uncontrolled emissions of mine gas to the surface. Persons wishing to access coal to recover coal mine methane need the agreement of the Coal Authority as well as a license from the DTI who own the methane. The Authority's interest in methane relates principally to the control of methane emissions from abandoned mines at the surface to reduce the risk to public safety. The Authority has many methane vents and is seeking to mitigate the methane by flaring, electricity generation or other methods. It is preparing a scheme to promote methane mitigation from abandoned mines for the DTI. |