Introduction
This section provides information on the financial resources available to the Mining Program. This section provides comparative data for Fiscal Year 1998 (FY98), the first full year under NIOSH direction, and for Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05), the current organization and some trend data for all years during this period.
The total budget for the Mining Program was relatively flat between FY98 and FY04. In FY05, Congress provided an additional appropriation that increased the Mining Program budget to $30.1 million, an increase of about 13% from the prior year.
The total budget can be divided into two major components: 1) personnel salaries and benefits (PS&B), and 2) discretionary budget. PS&&B is the largest fixed cost for the Mining Program. While PS&B can vary based on attrition and hiring decisions, it can not be quickly or easily changed. In addition, Congress provides an annual salary adjustment which can cause overall PS&B to increase even with limited hiring. Because of these forces, the discretionary budget available has decreased significantly. In FY98, 30% of the budget was discretionary, and there was about $26.6 thousand discretionary per Full-time Equivalent employee (FTE). By FY04, those numbers had fallen to 12% discretionary and only $12.9 thousand per FTE. The increased funding from Congress has brought the numbers back to 22% and $25.4 thousand. To deal with this increasing problem, we have limited hiring to a few key positions each year which has resulted in 21 less FTE. Discretionary spending decisions are closely monitored. We have limited conference participation, conducted field work at locations that will not involve travel, and prolonged the replacement of aging equipment and instruments.
The budget and FTE numbers are also shown by strategic goal. An extra category, 'Multiple Goals,' is shown to include projects that support more than one goal area. This includes projects responsible for technology transfer / health communications, support of the Lake Lynn Laboratory, and mining research planning and leadership.
Emphasis on strategic goals and changing research priorities has also led to a shift in how the discretionary funding and staffing is allocated. The most dramatic increase has been in the Hearing Loss Prevention area. Prior to FY98, we only had a very small program. We began building the laboratories and infrastructure in FY98. At that time, we only had 9 FTE working on this goal. By FY05, that number had increased to 25. The Respiratory Hazards area has also grown as we have increased staffing related to the personal dust monitor and diesel research. Since the total budget remained relatively flat, these increases had to be offset by decreases in Traumatic Injury and Disaster Prevention & Response.
