HI
                            CD
 Brownfields  2003

 Grant Fact  Sheet

  New Jersey Youth Corps,

Phillipsburg and Newark,  NJ


 EPA Brownfields Program

 EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
 nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
 to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
 sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield 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 con-
 taminant. 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. The job training
 grants provide training for residents of communities
 affected by brownfields to prepare them for employment
 in the assessment and cleanup of brownfields sites.
 Additionally, funding support is provided to state and
 tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

 Community Description

 The New Jersey Youth Corps was selected to receive a
job training grant. With this grant, the New Jersey Youth
 Corps is targeting young adults residing in Phillipsburg
 and Newark. The decline of manufacturing in
 Phillipsburg has contributed to urban decline. The job
 training program in Phillipsburg will focus on youth in die
 town's Urban Enterprise Zone, which includes an area
 with numerous brownfields and known contaminated
 sites. Newark is New Jersey's largest city, with a
 population 273,546. Residents are 53% African Ameri-
 can and 29% Hispanic. Fifty percent of Newark's
 students drop out of school by the ninth grade, and
 Newark's unemployment rate is twice the national and
   Job Training Grant
New!
2003J
   $200,000

   EPA has selected the New Jersey Youth Corps
   for a brownfields job training grant. The New
   Jersey Youth Corps plans to train 50 students,
   achieve an 80% placement rate, and track
   graduates for two to five years. The training
   program will include hazardous materials handing
   and phytoremediation. Phytoremediation certifi-
   cation has been identified by employers as a
   high-priority need. Students will be unemployed
   or underemployed youth from Phillipsburg and
   Newark. The New Jersey Youth Corps has been
   placing graduates in appropriate jobs for 20
   years.
   Contacts
   For further information, including specific grant
   contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
   news and events, and publications and links, visit
   the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
   brownfields.

   EPA Region 2 Brownfields Team
   212-637-4314
   http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/
   brownfields/

   Grant Recipient: New Jersey Youth Corps
   609-588-3177

   Prior to receipt of these funds in fiscal year 2003,
   the New Jersey Youth Corps also received
   funding for job training grants.
state averages. Both cities have a long industrial history
that has created numerous abandoned or underused
brownfields. Surveys of environmental employers in the
area make it clear that more trained workers are needed
to address local community environmental problems.
The grant will train local residents in Phillipsburg and
Newark for empolyment in the cities' efforts to
address their numerous brownfield sites.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA 500-F-03-029
                         May 2003
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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