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Washington — OSHA is set to receive a fractional budget cut in fiscal year 2026, according to appropriations bill text released Jan. 20.
The $629.3 million that would be allocated to the agency is nearly 0.5% less than the $632.3 million it received in FY 2025, which ended Sept. 30.
If it becomes law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 (H.R. 7148) also would provide $243 million toward federal enforcement – same as in FY 2025 – and up to $120 million for state programs.
Additional provisions would provide around $12.8 million for the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program and “not less than” $3.5 million for the Voluntary Protection Programs.
The White House’s budget request had called for cutting the Harwood program. During the first Trump administration, the executive branch sought to eliminate the program in each of its four budget requests.
Overall, the White House requested $582.4 million for OSHA – around a 7.9% cut.
In September, the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that also budgeted $582.4 million for OSHA. The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, sought to give the agency $632.3 million via a bill approved in July.
Those differences were recently resolved by a conference committee, which developed the finalized Consolidated Appropriations Act.
NIOSH
After a tumultuous year, NIOSH is set to receive a budget increase. The bill would allocate $366.8 million to the agency, or $4 million more than in FY 2025, which represents a 1.1% bump.
The White House had requested $73.2 million, including $66.5 million for mining research. The House bill, approved in September, allocated $312.7 million, while the Senate bill, approved in July, budgeted $363.8 million.
According to news reports earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services is attempting to bring back hundreds of laid-off NIOSH employees.
Under the new Trump administration, HHS originally sought to cut at least 870 workers from the agency, including those from the National Personal Protective Technology Library and NIOSH’s miner safety and health branches. Those layoffs were expected to go into effect at the end of June and were part of NIOSH’s planned merger with four other agencies in the “Administration for a Healthy America.”
In May, however, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the House Appropriations Committee that the department had reinstated 328 NIOSH employees, including those within the agency’s Respirator Approval Program and Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.
It’s unknown how many employees will rejoin the agency or why HHS chose to bring back those employees beginning this month.
Mine Safety and Health Administration
The Mine Safety and Health Administration is set to receive $387.8 million – the same funding as in FY 2025.
The Senate proposed that same amount in its bill approved in July. The Trump administration and the House bill sought to give the agency $348.2 million, or a 10% cut.
The bill budgets around $265.8 million for enforcement.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication