This report presents the results of a study to develop an engineering program to test, evaluate, and characterize coal as a potential source of methane gas production. The impetus of this study is to utilize known technologies in developing a testing procedure to obtain a significant data base of the parameters quantifying the potential methane gas production from coalbeds located throughout the United States. The technical aspects and testing designs are dealt with in detail in separate sections of this report. Historically, methane gas production from coal has focused on the removal of this highly dangerous explosive gas from seams being mined for the coal. With today's demand and price of gas, production of this methane gas from coal has become an attractive prospect in the search for future energy needs. Previous investigations conclude that trillions of cubic feet of gas can be recovered at today's gas prices. Since actual production data is essentially nonexistent and such data would take many years to obtain, a reservoir simulation model was developed to represent the process of gas production from coal. The engineering problem to which this study addresses itself is defined in terms of expressing the feasibility of methane gas production as a function relating the parameters which quantify gas production and the testing procedures necessitated to define these parameters.