EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002, as amended by the Brownfields Utilization, Investment and Local Development Act of 2018, was passed to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfield sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through five competitive grant programs: Multipurpose Grants, Assessment Grants, Revolving Loan Fund Grants, Cleanup Grants, and Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant funds are provided to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit and train unemployed and underemployed residents from solid and hazardous waste-impacted communities and place them in environmental jobs. To date, EPA has funded 305 job training grants totaling over $63 million through the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program. As of October 2019, more than 18,300 individuals have completed training, and of those, almost 13,700 have obtained employment in the environmental field, an average starting wage of over $14 an hour. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 75% since the program was created in 1998.
$200,000.00
EPA has selected OAI Inc. for an Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant. OAI Inc. plans to train 60 students and place at least 40 graduates in environmental jobs. The nine-month training program includes 1,068 hours of instruction. Core courses include 40-hour HAZWOPER, OSHA construction safety, first aid/CPR, green infrastructure, ecological restoration, plant identification, soil amendments, landscape maintenance, Chicago wilderness prescription burn, brush pile burn safety, urban forestry, and pesticide application worker. Participants who complete the training will earn one regional and three federal certifications. OAI Inc. is targeting disadvantaged unemployed and underemployed residents in the City of Chicago who face multiple barriers to employment. Key partners include Cardno JFNew, Semper Fi Land Services Inc, AKJ Industries, Applied Ecological Services, Chicago Greencorps, WRD Environmental, Signature Staffing Resources, Forest Preserves of Cook County, the Chicago Park District, the City of Chicago Department of Fleet and Facility Management, the Cook County Department of Environment and Sustainability, Cara, and the Center for New Horizons Inc.