Budgets for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) remain unchanged, after new legislation was signed into law in March.
Under the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 (HR 2882), over $632m has been allocated to OSHA. However, former OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab said that it’s essentially “a budget cut” after factoring in inflation and a 5.2% federal pay rise for employees. “It’s bad, but certainly not as bad as it could have been,” he added.
The allocation is more than what was initially proposed by the Senate ($628.5m) and the House ($536.9m). The Biden Administration, in its budget proposal, sought $738.7m for the agency for this fiscal year, which concludes on 30 September.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration will receive $387.8m in FY 2024 – unchanged from FY 2023. It matches the Senate’s proposed funding amount in its budget bill, while the House bill allocated around $325m – a decrease of nearly $63 million, or about 16.2%. The White House proposed $437.8m for the agency.
Meanwhile, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will receive $362.8m in FY 2024, the same amount as requested by the White House for the agency. It was also the same amount the Senate proposed in its budget bill, while the House bill allocated $247.7m – a 31.8% cut.
