United States
                 Environmental
                 Protection Agency
                 Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
      EPA 500-F-98-238
      August 1998
  &EPA   Brownfields  Job  Training
                  and  Development
                  Demonstration  Pilot
                   Career Options of Pinellas,  Inc.,
                                                    Clearwater, FL
  Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
               Quick Reference Fact Sheet
The Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilots will each be funded up to $200,000 over
two years.  These Pilots will bring together community groups, job training organizations, educators, labor groups,
investors, lenders, developers, and other affected parties to address the issue of providing environmental
employment and training for residents in communities impacted by brownfields. The goals of the Pilots are to
facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites contaminated with hazardous substances and prepare trainees for
employment in the environmental field, including training in alternative or innovative treatment technologies.
BACKGROUND

EPA has selected Career Options of Pinellas, Inc.
for a Brownfields Job Training and Development
Demonstration Pilot. Career Options of Pinellas
plans to concentrate its workforce development
efforts in the City of Clearwater, Florida, which is a
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot.

The Job Training Pilot will focus on the downtown
area of Clearwater, which has declined environ-
mentally and economically as a result of private
disinvestment.  Derelict buildings that once housed
commercial and industrial operations now dominate
the downtown landscape.  Approximately 100
potentially contaminated brownfields have been
identified in the downtown area. The 10,800
residents of the area are 59% minority  and suffer
from a poverty rate of 27%.  Only one-third of
residents are high school graduates.  The area is
slated to be designated as an Enterprise Zone by
the State.  The efforts of Clearwater to address
the economic decline of downtown neighborhoods
and to assess and clean up brownfields indicate a
need for environmental training.
  PILOT SNAPSHOT
   Career Options of
     Pinellas, Inc.,
   Clearwater, Florida
  Date of Announcement:
  August 1998

  Amount: $141,364

  Profile: The Pilot targets
  homeless and
  handicapped veterans and
  unemployed or
  under-employed residents
  of Clearwater's downtown
  area.
Contacts:

Career Options of
Pinellas, Inc.
(813)298-1718
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 4
(404) 562-8661
     Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
 http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.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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TRAINING OBJECTIVES

Career Options of Pinellas plans to train 50
students with the EPA grant, achieve an 80%
placement rate, and track students for up to one
year.  Participants to be targeted will be homeless
and handicapped veterans and other disadvantaged
residents of the downtown area.  The Pilot training
program will consist of a two-month environmental
technician curriculum, including training in the use
of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies.
The training efforts of Career Options of Pinellas
will be supported by organizations such as the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs,  Pinellas
Technical Education Centers, and the City of
Clearwater. A Brownfields Advisory Board,
consisting of members of local businesses, will
assist with job placement in the target area.

ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Developing a curriculum for brownfields
 assessment and cleanup;

• Conducting environmental technician training,
 including courses in the use of innovative
 assessment and cleanup technologies; and

• Conducting outreach  to recruit homeless and
 handicapped veterans and other disadvantaged
 residents of the downtown area.

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      Career Options of Pinellas, Inc., Clearwater, Florida
  August 1998                                                                       EPA 500-F-98-238

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