MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY STATE GRANTS | MSHA 2023 1

Opportunity Information: Apply for MSHA 2023 1

The Mine Health and Safety State Grants opportunity is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Labor through the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). It is designed to strengthen mine safety and health protections by helping state, tribal, and territorial governments improve the systems that prevent mining fatalities, injuries, and occupational disease. The program fits within the Department of Labor's broader workforce agenda of supporting safe, stable, good-paying jobs and reinforcing workers' rights, including the right to organize and to work in fair, safe workplaces. In practical terms, these grants support on-the-ground efforts that make mining work safer and healthier, while also encouraging equitable access to training and protections across the mining industry.

A central purpose of the grants is to support governments in developing and enforcing state mining laws and regulations, improving workers' compensation and mining occupational disease laws and related programs, and strengthening safety and health conditions through stronger federal-state coordination. MSHA highlights that state training programs are often a major source of mine safety and health education for both current miners and people preparing to enter mining jobs. Because of that, the program places significant emphasis on training and education, especially training that reaches small mining operations and underserved mines and miners. The opportunity also explicitly encourages grantees to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility into their training strategies so that workers who have historically been left out or poorly served can more reliably access high-quality safety and health instruction.

MSHA also signals strong interest in training that reinforces miners' statutory rights. That includes education on the right to a safe and healthy workplace, the right to refuse unsafe work, and the right to speak up and have a meaningful voice in safety and health conditions at the mine. Beyond rights-based training, MSHA encourages applicants to address a wide range of high-risk and high-impact topics that commonly drive severe incidents or long-term health harm. These priority areas include occupational health hazards from respirable dust and crystalline silica exposure, powered haulage and mobile equipment safety, emergency preparedness and mine rescue, electrical safety, and safety considerations for contract workers and customer truck drivers. The agency also points to the importance of improving training for new and inexperienced miners, as well as for managers and supervisors who perform mining tasks, and it calls out specific technical hazards such as pillar safety in underground mines and preventing falls from heights.

Eligible applicants are broadly defined across public-sector entities and certain education partners. Eligible groups include state governments and local governments (county and city/township), special district governments, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments, and tribal organizations, with additional eligibility details referenced in the official notice. The opportunity also applies across states and U.S. territories and affiliated jurisdictions, specifically including Washington, DC; Puerto Rico; the U.S. Virgin Islands; American Samoa; Guam; and the Northern Mariana Islands. The program is listed under CFDA number 17.600, and the funding instrument is a grant.

For this particular posting (Funding Opportunity Number MSHA 2023 1), MSHA anticipated making about 56 awards, with an award ceiling of up to $800,000. The opportunity was created on April 14, 2023, and the original application closing date was June 12, 2023. Overall, the program is best understood as a vehicle for governments and their partners to expand and modernize mining safety and health capacity through enforcement support, stronger occupational disease and compensation frameworks, and targeted training that focuses on the hazards and workforce needs most closely tied to preventing serious harm in mines.

• The Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY STATE GRANTS" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 17.600.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 14, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 12, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $800,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 56 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for MSHA 2023 1

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: