In 2010, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) led an effort to more closely collaborate with other programs within EPA on workforce development and job training. Program offices now participating in the expanded initiative include the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR), Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI), Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST), Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO), Center for Program Analysis (CPA), Innovation, Partnerships, and Communication Office (IPCO), Office of Wastewater Management (OWM), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), and the Office of Emergency Management (OEM). This initiative was created to develop a job training cooperative agreement opportunity that includes expanded training in other environmental media outside the traditional scope of just brownfields cleanup. As a result of this effort, the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants Program, formerly known as the ”Brownfields Job Training Grants Program,” now allows applicants to deliver other training in the environmental field, in addition to the core traditional brownfields hazardous waste and petroleum training historically provided.
Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant funds are provided to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train, and place predominantly low-income and minority, unemployed and under-employed residents from solid and hazardous waste-impacted communities. Residents learn the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field, including a focus on assessment and cleanup activities. To date, EPA has funded 191 job training grants totaling over $42 million through the former Brownfields Job Training Program and newly expanded Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Program. As of January 2012, approximately 10,275 individuals had completed training and approximately 7,155 obtained employment in the environmental field, with an average starting hourly wage of $14.12. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 70% for the program, and also includes accomplishments data recorded since the program was created in 1998.
$200,000
EPA has selected the Arkansas Construction Education Foundation (ACEF) for an environmental workforce development and job training grant. ACEF plans to train 90 students, place 72 graduates in environmental jobs, and track graduates for one year. The environmental training program includes 124 hours of instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER, UST leak prevention, asbestos worker, sustainable construction supervisor, confined space entry, construction and demolition debris recycling, alternative treatment technologies, and green stormwater management. A minimum of three state and federal certifications will be offered to program participants. ACEF is targeting unemployed and underemployed homeless individuals in Little Rock, North Little Rock, and central Arkansas. Key partners include Better Community Development, Inc., Our House Shelter, the Little Rock Workforce Investment Board, Snyder Environmental, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.