The US Mine Safety and Health Administration will award up to 20 grants for 12-month project performance periods, with each individual grant worth at least $50,000 up to a maximum of $250,000. All applicants must be state or nonprofit entities.
In addition, the agency said a new program structure this year would allow applicants to apply for a renewal grant.
Applications for grants close on August 31 at 11.59pm Eastern time. The agency will announce the awards on or before September 30.
“Training is the key to proper and safe emergency response,” assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health Joseph Main said.
“These funds will enable miners and mine emergency responders to receive the necessary training that may one day save lives if a mine emergency occurs.”
The Brookwood-Sago grants program was created through a provision in the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006.
This year’s funding, stemming from fiscal year 2010 allotments, will focus on development and implementation of training and training materials for emergency preparedness and prevention underground.
The program was named in memory of 13 miners who perished in two explosions at the Jim Walter Resources No.5 operation in Alabama in September 2001 and the 12 workers killed in the Sago mine explosion in West Virginia in January 2006.
All applications must be submitted online at www.grants.gov.
