The Mine Health and Safety State Grants, administered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), provide funding to assist State, Tribal, and Territorial Governments in developing and enforcing State mining laws and regulations, improving workers' compensation and mining occupational disease laws and programs, and advancing safety and health conditions in the nation's mines through Federal-State coordination and cooperation.

Overview

Authorized by the Secretary of Labor through MSHA, this grant program supports eligible government entities including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The program aims to strengthen mining safety infrastructure, improve regulatory enforcement, and enhance training capacity. The funding opportunity number is MSHA-2026-1, and the assistance listing is 17.600 -- Mine Health and Safety Grants.

Funding and Benefits

• Program Funding: $10,537,000
• Expected Awards: 56
• Award Maximum: $800,000
• Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes
• Funding Instrument Type: Grant
• Opportunity Category: Discretionary
• Category of Funding Activity: Education

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include the following government entities:

• State governments
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Federally recognized Native American tribal governments
• Other Native American tribal organizations
• Public and state institutions of higher education

Program Priorities

MSHA encourages State training programs to prioritize health and safety training for new and small mining operations. Grant recipients are encouraged to address, in their training and education programs, the following areas:

• Contract employee safety and occupational health hazards
• Powered haulage and mobile equipment safety
• Mine emergency preparedness and mine rescue
• Electrical safety
• Training for new and inexperienced miners
• Training for managers and supervisors performing mining tasks
• Falls from heights

Applicants are also encouraged, where applicable, to support efforts to increase the discovery and mining of critical minerals by developing or creating training and compliance assistance programs for operators extracting critical minerals, including coal. With the potential reopening of idled mines and development of new mines in response to the National Energy Emergency declared under Executive Order 14156 (2025) and subsequent directives, new and innovative programs to train new miners or retrain miners for extracting specific critical minerals are considered vital.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov. Applicants can track application status and subscribe to updates on the Grants.gov platform. The Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is available for download on the opportunity listing page. All applicants should review the full FOA for detailed application instructions and requirements.

Deadline and Timeline

• Closing Date: August 10, 2026
• Posted Date: June 9, 2026
• Last Updated: June 9, 2026

Contact Information

• Management Officer: Ursula Frazier — Frazier.Ursula@DOL.GOV, (202) 693-9883
• Grants Management Specialist: Elif E Polat — polat.elif.e@dol.gov, (202) 693-9885
• Email: Department of Labor