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 Brownfields Job Training Grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
Brownfields 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 352 job training grants totaling over $75 million through the Brownfields Job Training program. A total of 19,456 individuals have been trained and 14,560 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 percent.
$200,000.00
EPA has selected Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps (CCC) for a Brownfields Job Training grant. Great Lakes CCC plans to train 100 students and place at least 64 in environmental jobs. The training program includes 480 hours of instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER, CDL/ Hazardous Waste Transport/ Forklift, Phytoremediation, National Incident Management System, Chemical Safety Awareness, Mold Remediation, Erosion and Sediment Control, Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting, Toxicology and Geology, Environmental Sampling/ Monitoring, Field Technician Operations for Site Remediation, Composting and Soil Amendments for Urban Ag Site Reuse, Alternative Energy Technologies Retrofit Training for Brownfields, Ecological Restoration and Revegetation of Brownfields, Confined Space Entry, Disaster Site Worker, First Aid/CPR/ Bloodborne Pathogens, and Pesticide Worker Protection Standards. Students who complete the training will earn up to 7 federal certifications. Great Lakes CCC is targeting unemployed and underemployed students in the City of Racine, Wisconsin with an emphasis on students located in census tracts 3, 4, and 5. Key partners include Terracon, LF Green Development LLC, Racine Vocational Ministry, First Choice Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program, Lakeside Curative Services, Racine Health Department, Gateway Technical College, Racine County Workforce Solutions, The Sigma Group, Jacobs, the City of Racine Department of Public Works, and Racine County Economic Development Corporation.