(Reuters) -The Trump administration will auction off coal leases on federal lands in four U.S. states in the coming days, a key test of mining industry interest in its efforts to revive a sector in decline.

The sales in Alabama, Montana, Utah and Wyoming will be the first since President Donald Trump’s administration rolled out measures to support the coal industry with increased access to federal lands and hundreds of millions of dollars for more coal-fired power plants.

U.S. coal production dropped 40% between 2013 and 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration, due to stepped-up environmental regulation and competition from natural gas. During the same period, federal acreage under lease for coal mining fell 11%.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration stopped issui

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