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. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.
$200,000
EPA has selected the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma for a job training grant. The tribe plans to train 75 students and place 45 in environmental jobs. Graduates will be tracked for one year. The 320-hour training program will be conducted by East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, and Gordon Cooper Vo-Tech. Courses will include HAZWOPER, general worker safety, lead and asbestos abatement, environmental sampling, and 80 hours of on-the-job assessment and cleanup training. The training will be conducted at three different locations to allow the maximum number of students to be trained without over-saturating available jobs within each community. Students will be recruited primarily from among Absentee Shawnee tribal members, but the course also will be offered to members of other tribes and non-native residents in the area. Students will be placed into environmental jobs with the assistance of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe Workforce Investment Program, the Pottawatomie County Workforce Investment Center, and local environmental employers.