Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety and State Assistance Grants Justification

Generic Solicitation for Grant Applications

Control Number 1225-0086

Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety and State Assistance Grants Justification

Abstract:

The U.S. Department of Labor ( DOL), Mine Safety and Health Administration(MSHA), is making $850,000 available in grant funds for educational and training programs to help identify, avoid, and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around mines under section 14 of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act). The focus of these grants for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 will be on training and training materials for mine emergency preparedness and mine emergency prevention for all underground mines. Applicants for the grants may be States and nonprofit (private or public) entities. The MSHA could award as many as 17 separate grants. The amount of each individual grant will be at least $50,000.00.

MSHA is also making $2.991 million available to award grants under section 503 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to State or State-designated entities to:

1. assist States in developing and enforcing mining laws and regulations;

2. improve State workmen’s compensation and occupational disease laws and programs related to coal or other mine employment; and

3. promote Federal-State coordination and cooperation in improving the health and safety conditions in mines.

The MSHA could award as many as 51 separate grants.

Electronic availability:

This grant solicitation is available on the grants.gov Web site. Based on past DOL experience, the Department anticipates 90 percent of responses will be submitted electronically.

Small Entities:

This information collection will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Assurances of confidentiality:

These grant solicitations do not offer applicants assurances of confidentiality.

Special circumstances:

This information collection complies with 5 CFR 1320.5

Burden:

Based on the past number of applications received under the Brookwood-Sago program, the DOL would normally expect to receive approximately 15 applications. Due to an increase in funding over prior years, the DOL estimates it will receive 25 applications. Public reporting burden for each grant application is estimated to average 20 hours per response for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Each recipient who receives a grant award notice will be required to submit nine quarterly progress reports to MSHA. Each report will take approximately two and one-half hours to prepare.

25 responses (1 per application) x 20 hours = 500 burden hours

68 responses (17 awards x 4 reports per year) x 2.5 hours = 170 burden hours

For the State Assistance grants, the DOL would normally expect to receive 50 applications. Public reporting burden for each grant application is estimated to average 10 hours per response for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Each recipient who receives a grant award notice will be required to submit nine quarterly progress reports to MSHA. Each report will take approximately two and one-half hours to prepare.

50 responses (1 per application) x 10 hours = 500 burden hours

200 responses (50 awards x 4 reports per year) x 2.5 hours = 500 hours

The DOL has increased the January 2013 average hourly earnings in the professional and business services industry of $28.36 by 40 percent (total $39.70) to monetize this burden. See The Employment Situation—March 2013, DOL, Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_04052013.pdf at 32.

1,670 total burden hours (500 + 170 + 500 + 500) x $39.70 per hour = $66,299.

The DOL associates no other burden costs with this information collection.

Total burden: 75 respondents (unduplicated), 343 responses, 1,670 hours, $0 other cost burden.

Supporting Statement B; Statistical Methods

This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

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