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 the City of Rochester for an Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant. The City of Rochester plans to train 60 students and place at least 49 graduates in environmental jobs. The core training program includes 250 hours of instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER, environmental awareness and sustainability, environmental sampling techniques, brownfields overview and process, asbestos handler/worker certification, OSHA 10-hour construction site safety, OSHA permit-required confined space, lead abatement worker, mold abatement worker, asbestos project monitor certification, and lead supervisor/contractor certification. Participants who complete the training will earn two state and five federal certifications. The City of Rochester is targeting veterans, dislocated workers, underemployed and unemployed individuals including low-income and minority residents, and those with little or no advanced education. Key partners include Rochester Works Inc., Monroe 2-Orleans Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Charles House Neighbors in Action, Rochester-Monroe Anti-poverty Initiative, LaBella Associates, LU Engineers, and AAC Contracting Inc.