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 communities affected by environmental pollution, economic disinvestment, and brownfields and place them in environmental jobs. Since the program was created in 1998, EPA has funded 335 job training grants totaling over $72 million through the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program. A total of 18,541 individuals have been trained and 13,751 individuals have been placed in full-time careers related to land remediation and environmental health and safety. The average starting wage for these jobs is more than $14 an hour. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 74%.
$200,000.00
EPA has selected The Research Foundation of CUNY of the City College of New York (the City College of New York) for an Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant. The City College of New York plans to train 52 students and place at least 44 in environmental jobs. The training program includes 110 hours of instruction in: 40-hour HAZWOPER; Field Technician Basics; Environmental Sampling of Soil, Groundwater, and Vapor; ASTM Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments; OSHA 30-hour Construction; and OSHA Confined Space Entry. Students who complete the training will earn up to two state and three federal certifications. The City College of New York is targeting unemployed and underemployed residents of 16 neighborhoods in the South Bronx. Key partners include the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, the Mayor's Office of Environmental Remediation, the New York Workforce Development Board, the New York City Brownfield Partnership, and the Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast.