"These grants are part of MSHA's ongoing commitment to advance miner safety and health through funding training programs," MSHA Administrator Richard Stickler said.
According to MSHA, grantees will be able to use the grants to provide federally mandated training to miners, which will cover training and retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines. This also includes miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone and sand and gravel mining operations.
The monetary amount of the grants MSHA is awarding in fiscal 2007 is the same as the previous fiscal year, because the federal government currently is operating under a continuing budget resolution from Congress.
Kentucky and West Virginia Received the Highest Amounts
Training grant funds will be awarded to every state – except Hawaii – and to the Navajo Nation and Puerto Rico. States apply for the grants, which are administered by state mine inspectors' offices, state departments of labor or state-supported colleges and universities.
The grants will be given to the states upon receipt and approval of their applications.
Kentucky and West Virginia, two coal mining states, received the highest amount of funding, with Kentucky receiving $597,131 and West Virginia receiving $535,860.
The state grant program was authorized by the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969. States first received funding in 1971 to provide health and safety training to miners.