Obama’s MSHA budget: More money for enforcement

I’m still crunching numbers — and waiting on the Department of Labor’s Web chat at 1:30 p.m. — but it appears that the Obama administration is proposing some additional money for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The detailed budget documents available here (but the link only works in Internet Explorer. For me at least, it didn’t work in Firefox).

For MSHA, the proposal includes an overall increase in budget from $347 million to $354 million, an increase of about 2 percent, for the 2010 financial year that starts Oct. 1, 2009.

Money for MSHA’s coal enforcement will increase from $154 million to $157 million, and for metal/non-metal from $82 million to $86 million, according to the budget documents.

Tune into their Web chat later this afternoon.

Reporters can submit their questions at reporters.solis@dol.gov and the general public can submit questions at budget.solis@dol.gov.   The general public may also submit questions by tweeting @hildasolisdol or by calling the National Contact Center at 1-866-487-2365.