EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, Tribal Nations, 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, Tribal Nations, 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 awarded 414 job training grants totaling over $100.5 million through Brownfield Job Training Programs. With these grants, more than 21,500 individuals have completed training and over 16,370 individuals have been placed in careers related to land remediation and environmental health and safety. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 75 percent. The average starting wage for these jobs is more than $15 an hour.
$500,000.00
EPA has selected the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps for a Brownfields Job Training Grant. The Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps plans to train 160 students and place at least 128 in environmental jobs. The training program includes 480 hours of instruction in 40-Hour HAZWOPER, Commercial Drivers License/Hazardous Waste Transport/ Forklift, Phytoremediation, National Incident Management System 100 and 200, 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 Amending, Alternative Energy Tech Retrofit Training For Brownfields, Ecological Restoration and Revegetation of Brownfields, Confined Space, Disaster Site Worker, First Aid/CPR, Bloodborne Pathogens, and Pesticide Worker Protection Standards. Students who complete the training will earn up to seven federal certifications. The Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps is targeting students within the City of Racine, specifically veterans and unemployed or under-employed young adults who have significant barriers to employment, including a history of incarceration, insufficient educational attainment, mental illness, disability, or a history of substance abuse. Key partners include AECOM, Jacobs, LF Green Development, LLC, Terracon, Sigma, YMCA First Choice Pre-Apprenticeship, Racine County Workforce Solutions, and Gateway Technical College.