United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-277
December 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Job Training
and Development
Demonstration Pilot
Western Iowa Tech Community College, Sioux City, IA
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 $1,000,000 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 Western Iowa Tech Community
College for a Brownfields Job Training and
Development Demonstration Pilot. The College's
assessment pilot partner is Sioux City. Metropolitan
Sioux City (population 106,000) encompasses a state-
designated Enterprise Zone, which includes a large
minority population. Eleven percent of Enterprise
Zone residents are living belowthe poverty rate. Sioux
City's per capita income is in the bottom half of the
largest 350 cities in the United States.
The Job Training Pilot will recruit residents ofthe state
Enterprise Zone. Changes in the meatpacking industry
over the past 3 5 years have left a legacy of abandoned
warehouses, factories, and other commercial buildings
within the Enterprise Zone. Many ofthe properties
contain hazardous materials that will need to be
assessed and cleaned up before the properties can be
reused. In addition, lead-based paint continues to be a
health threat to residents. Environmental companies,
particularly those working on projects stimulated by
the Sioux City Brownfields Assessment Pilot, are
interested in hiring local residents trained as
environmental technicians. No other environmental
technician training is offered in the region.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Sioux City, Iowa
Date of Announcement:
December 2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 50
students as environmental
technicians. Students will be
tecruitedfrom thestate Enterprise
Zone in Sioux City, which has
suffered economicdisinvestment
as a result of changes in the meat
packing industry over the past
35 years.
Contacts:
Western Iowa Tech
Community College
(712) 274-6400, ext. 1258
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 7
(913)551-7003
Visit the E PA Region 7 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region07/specinit/brown/
brownfields.htm
Forfurtherinformation,includingspecific 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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TRAINING OBJECTIVES
Western Iowa Tech Community College plans to train
50 participants, achieve a75%jobplacementrate, and
support career placement of graduates for one year
after the training is completed. Participants will be
recruited from the state Enterprise Zone. The 222-
hour Pilot training program will consist of
HAZWOPER training, OSHA general construction,
lead abatement worker, introduction to environmental
technology, ecosystem restoration and innovative
techniques, and FastTrac Entrepreneurship Program
(40-hour optional course), including training in the use
of innovative assessment and remediation technologies.
The training efforts of Western Iowa Tech Community
College will be supported by organizations such as
Goodwill Industries, Siouxland Community Health
Center, Woodbury County Community Action Agency,
Sioux City American Indian Center, City of Sioux
City, and Iowa Department of Health and Human
Services. An advisory committee consisting of proj ect
partners has been formed to coordinate Pilot activities.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit residents ofthe state
Enterprise Zone;
• Conducting training for entry-level positions as
brownfields technicians, 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.
BrownfieldsJob Training and Development Demonstration Pilot
December2000
Western Iowa Tech Community College, Sioux City, Iowa
EPA500-F-00-277
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