United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-172
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, PA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the Greater Philadelphia Urban
Affairs Coalition for a Brownfields Job Training and
Development Demonstration Pilot. The Greater
Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition's assessment
pilot partners are the City of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania; Delaware County, Pennsylvania; and
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The Job Training
Pilot will focus on residents from disadvantaged
communities impacted by brownfields in the City of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the City of Chester
(Delaware County), Pennsylvania; and the City of
Norristown (Montgomery County), Pennsylvania. In
the City of Philadelphia, over 20 percent of residents
live below the poverty level and three-quarters of
these residents live near contaminated brownfield
sites. In the City of Chester, 24 percent of residents
live below the poverty level and over one half of the
residents are African American. In Norristown,
approximately 10 percent of residents live below the
poverty level.
The target cities all lie within the Greater Philadelphia
metropolitan area, which historically has been the hub
of thriving manufacturing operations that capitalized
from being located near the Delaware and Schuykill
Rivers. Hundreds of commercial and industrial
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $100,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 45
participants as environmental
technicians. Students will be
recruited from residents living below
the poverty level in the City of
Philadelphia, City of Chester, and
City of Norristown, which contain
hundreds of commercial and
industrial facilities that are now
abandoned or underused and that
are potentially contaminated.
Contacts:
GreaterPhiladelphia Urban
Affairs Coalition
(215)851-1773
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 3
(215)814-3129
Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.htm
Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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facilities in the areaare now abandoned orunderused.
Many of these facilities have been stigmatized by the
threat of potential contamination. The community's
efforts to revitalize derelict properties include
redevelopment projects at the Kvaerner Philadelphia
Shipyard, U.S. Airways Terminal, Marriott Hotel,
and Pavilion at Market East. Training of local residents
is needed to provide good jobs for disadvantaged
residents in the identification, assessment, and cleanup
of brownfields in the area.
TRAINING OBJECTIVES
The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition
plans to train 45 participants, achieve an 80 percent
placement rate, and support career placement of
graduates for one year after the training is completed.
Participants will be recruited from residents living
below the poverty level in the Greater Philadelphia
metropolitan area, including individuals receiving
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
and other low-income community residents. The Pilot
training program will consist of 210 hours of training,
including 40-hour HAZWOPER, lead and asbestos
abatement certification, one week of brownfield and
environmental education, and three weeks of innovative
and alternative technology courses.
The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition's
training efforts will be supported by organizations
such as the multi-county Partners for Brownfields
Initiatives (PBI), Chester Education Foundation, Assets
for Redevelopment in Montgomery County,
EnviroAce, USA Environmental Management, Inc.,
and the Tri-County Community Action Agency. The
Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition will
conduct 16 community outreach sessions to inform
residents about brownfields and encourage
participation in the training program.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit low-income residents
impacted by brownfields in the City of Philadelphia,
City of Chester, and City of Norristown;
• Conducting brownfieldstechnician training, including
courses in the use of innovative assessment and
cleanup technologies; and
• Supporting career placement of students for one
year after the job training is completed.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot
May2000
Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, Pennsylvania
EPA500-F-00-172
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