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 the City of Springfield for a Brownfields Job Training grant. The City of Springfield plans to train 56 students and place at least 35 in environmental jobs. The training program includes 160 hours of instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER, OSHA 10, Trenching/Excavation, Confined Space Entry, Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting, Lead Abatement Worker Certification, Asbestos Worker/ Handler, Mold Abatement, Flagger, Bloodborne Pathogens, Forklift Driver, First Aid/CPR, and Silica. Students who complete the training will earn up to three state certifications and nine federal certifications. The City of Springfield is targeting students across the City of Springfield, Missouri. Key partners include the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Multi-Craft Contractors, Inc., STL KC Carpenters Regional, Emery SAPP and SONS, Donco3, the Ozark Region Workforce Development Board, One Stop Job Center, CoSWFD, Mid-America Safety and Environmental, Sun Solar, Gerken, Environmental Works, Sunbelt, Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, the Laborers Union, Bolivar Installation, 417 Crawl Space, North Star Battery, EWI, Schneider Trucking, Mercy, Sweep-A-Lot/Haul-A-Lot, Mi-Am Metal, Werner Enterprises, Paul Davis Restoration, PK Safety Solutions, Hogan Transportation, Distribution Solutions Incorporated, RBX Trucking, the Economic Vitality Department, Mid-America Safety and Environmental, the Drew Lewis Foundation, the City of Marshfield, and Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation.