The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has awarded $8,441,000 in grant funding to 47 states and the Navajo Nation to reduce mining accidents, injuries and illnesses by supporting safety and health training courses and other programs.
Grantees will use the funds to provide miners with federally mandated training. The grants cover training and retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines, including miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone, sand and gravel mining operations.
Grants were awarded in fiscal year 2015 based on applications from states, and they are administered by state mine inspectors’ offices, state departments of labor, and state-supported colleges and universities. Each recipient tailors the program to the needs of its mines and miners – including mining conditions and hazards miners may encounter – and provides technical assistance.
“Training of our nation’s miners is critical to miners’ safety and health, and thousands of miners receive training through these state grants,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.
Authorized by the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, the state’s grants programs have received funds to provide safety and health training to miners since 1971.
In addition to safety and health training, some states use these grants to support their mine emergency response efforts and other Mine Act functions.
Grants went to:
Alabama
Bevill State Community College
Alaska
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Arizona
Arkansas
California
California Department of Industrial Relations
Colorado
Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Connecticut
Central Connecticut State University
Florida
Georgia
Technical College System of Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Indiana
Iowa
Eastern Iowa Community Colleges
Kansas
Kentucky
Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet
Louisiana
Northshore Technical Community College
Maine
Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards
Maryland
Maryland Department of the Environment
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards
Michigan
Michigan Technological University
Minnesota
Minnesota State Colleges & Universities
Mississippi
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
Missouri
Missouri Department of Labor & Industrial Relations
Montana
Montana Department of Labor & Industry
Navajo Nation
Nebraska
Board of Regents, University of Nebraska
Nevada
Nevada Department of Business and Industry
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Department of Resources & Economic Development
New Jersey
New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
New Mexico
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
New York
New York State Department of Labor
North Carolina
North Carolina Department of Labor
North Dakota
North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education
Ohio
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Bureau of Mine Safety
South Carolina
South Carolina State Board for Technical & Comprehensive Education
South Dakota
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Tennessee
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy
Washington
West Virginia
West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services