OSHA receives $5 million budget increase

October 11th, 2018 by Dakota Software Staff

On Sept. 28, 2018, President Donald Trump signed a "minibus" spending bill increasing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's budget by $5 million.

A minibus is simply a smaller version of an omnibus spending bill, which packages together many individual appropriations bills into one larger piece of legislation that can be passed with just one vote in each chamber of Congress. The minibus signed by President Trump included the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act of 2019 and the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2019, which will keep the government open until Dec. 7, 2018.

The appropriations bill provides $557.8 million for OSHA in fiscal year 2019, which represents a $5 million increase over the agency's fiscal year 2018 budget. It is also $1 million more than the Senate originally asked for in its initial minibus bill which passed August 23, and a full $12.5 million increase over the House's proposed budget.

This is the first time since 1996 that appropriations for the Department of Labor, which OSHA has been an agency of since 1971, have been in place before the start of the federal government's fiscal year on Oct. 1.

NIOSH and Susan Harwood Program retain funding

The new legislation also allocates a maximum of' $102.4 million to OSHA State Plan states, a $1.5 million bump that marks the first increase since 2014, according to Safety and Health Magazine. Despite attempts by the House and the administration to eliminate the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, which provides education and training to employers and employees about workplace safety, it will receive $10.5 million and retain funding for at least one more fiscal year.

OSHA's budget for federal compliance assistance efforts will rise by $2.5 million for a total of $73.5 million, while its enforcement budget will increase $1 million to $209 million.

This marks the first time since 1996 that appropriations for the Department of Labor have been in place before the start of the federal government's fiscal year

The Mine Safety and Health Administration will stay at $373.8 million in funding, which is more than the House's initial $367.6 million proposal for the agency and less than the Trump administration's $375.9 million allocation. Up to $2 million of the agency's budget will go to mine rescue and recovery, with at least $10.5 million committed to state assistance grants. Some of those grants will go to mine operators "who demonstrate financial need" to be used "for the purchase and maintenance of new equipment" mandated by the coal dust rule, which lowered the exposure limit at underground and surface mines from 2.0 milligrams per cubic meter of air to 1.5 milligrams.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will receive a $1.1 million increase for a total $336.3 million in funding, and remain under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Trump administration had proposed slashing the agency's budget to $200 million and moving it to the National Institutes of Health.