The Fiscal Year 2012 Budget released recently by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposes termination of funding for the Educational and Research Centers (ERCs) Program within the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), stating that the “intended goals of the program have been met.” The goals, according to the OMB, were to provide seed money for academic institutions to develop or expand occupational health and safety training programs for specialists practicing in the field, with the intention that the programs would become self-sustaining after 5 years.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has posted on their website (http://www.acoem.org/Proposed_NIOSH_Budget_Cuts.aspx) a letter to members of the Appropriations Committee about the proposed cuts. The “Terminations, Reductions, and Savings” Report is located on the White House website (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/TRS).