An in-Depth Respirable-Dust Study ofKentucky Coal Mines.

The overall objective of the proposed project is to conduct an in-depth, respirable-dust study, including a detailed statistical analysis, to determine the impact of the recently proposed, respirable-dust rule on the Kentucky coal industry. A study of this scale could not be performed without the commitment and cooperation of a major coal-mining company. The University of Kentucky will partner with Alliance Coal LLC to conduct this study. Alliance Coal has committed to provide $200,000 as a 100% match to obtain up to 2000 respirable-dust samples from at least six coal mines for this project.