^^ Brownfields Job Training Grants —
Building Careers and
Cleaning the Environment
E,
Job Training
'PA's commitment to promoting economic revitalization and
safeguarding the health of the environment and the public can be
found in its Job Training grants. Over the past several years, EPA
has partnered with other federal agencies and local environmental
employment and training programs to develop plans for fostering
workforce development in brownfields communities and to fill the
critical link between environmental cleanup and safe, sustainable
community redevelopment. Those eligible for Job Training grants
include colleges, universities, regional workforce investment boards,
community job training organizations, nonprofit training centers, states,
counties, municipalities, federally recognized Indian tribes (except
Alaskan Tribes), and U.S. Territories.
Job Training grants are usually located within or adjacent to EPA-
funded Brownfields grant areas. These grants complement existing
renewal efforts by both facilitating cleanup of brownfields and
also promoting employment of environmental job trainees. To start
addressing their brownfields, the Town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey
sought and was awarded an EPA Assessment grant. Two EPA Job
Training grants, awarded to the New Jersey Youth Corps program,
have assisted in providing qualified environmental professionals to the
Town of Phillipsburg. Although the grant program's primary objective
is to provide environmental training for disadvantaged residents of
communities affected by brownfields while at the same time facilitating
brownfields cleanup, it helps in other ways. The program also ensures
that local communities share in the short- and long-term economic
benefits of brownfields cleanup efforts; that under or unemployed
residents find sustainable employment in the environmental field;
and that environmental justice objectives are met. This is especially
important as Job Training grants are typically awarded in urban, low-
income, and high-minority areas. Many of the grant areas lie within
state/local Enterprise Zones, federal Enterprise Communities, and/
or federal Empowerment Zones. Job Training grants not only target
minority residents of communities affected by brownfields, but also
those in public assistance programs (including Welfare-to-Work),
single mothers, youth at risk, and veterans. Various recruitment
strategies are used, including working with community and city
organizations, college and high school alumni, existing job training
and placement programs, local Welfare-to-Work programs, and the
media; conducting house-to-house visits, meetings, forums, and open
enrollment sessions; and relying on word-of-mouth.
JFYNetWorks Job Training grantees in Boston,
Massachusetts participate in training exercises.
JUST THE FACTS:
Job Training programs help
individuals to receive the
qualifications necessary to obtain
quality environmental jobs while
providing communities with the
labor force necessary to help
revitalize their brownfields.
New Jersey Youth Corps has
used EPA Job Training grants to
provide qualified environmental
professionals to the Town of
Phillipsburg, an EPA Brownfields
Assessment grant recipient.
Brownfields Job Training graduates
assisted with environmental cleanup
and recovery efforts following
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"EPA Job Training
grants are a way
to create local employment
opportunities for Phillipsburg residents
by linking workforce development
with the brownfields
redevelopment process."
- New Jersey
Youth Corps
grantees
continued
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A Job Training graduate in St. Louis, Missouri
celebrates his success.
Program graduates continue to demonstrate that they are well prepared to compete in the environmental
job market. Participants of the JFYNetWorks Job Training Program in Boston, Massachusetts, graduate
with certificates of completion in environmental science, chemistry, chemistry lab, math and business
writing, as well as five professional environmental health and safety certifications. A single mother who
graduated from the
Networks Job Training Program found employment as a lab technician at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT). She was soon promoted to manage a lab of PhD researchers working on the
Human Genome Project at MIT. Trainees of the Williamsburg Works Job Training Program in Brooklyn,
New York graduate with nine professional certifications and/or licenses in the environmental area.
Trainees of the Lawrence Ambiente Training Initiative Brownfields Job Training Program in Lawrence,
Massachusetts graduate with seven professional certifications or
licenses in the areas of HAZWOPER, lead, asbestos, mold, first
aid, OSHA construction, and confined space, making them the
most highly-trained environmental technicians in their region. The
Brownfields Initiative for Local Development (BILD) Job Training
Program in Lewiston, Maine offers participants supervisor level
training in lead and asbestos abatement through their core training
track. BILD also offers participants two advanced training tracks:
Advanced Hazardous Waste Transport and Advanced Brownfields
Redevelopment. To date, 56 students have participated in EPA-
funded cycles of BILD's Job Training Program, with 43 students
graduating. Approximately 80 percent of those graduates are employed, earning an average wage of $11
per hour.
Many graduates of Brownfields Job Training programs have found long-term jobs in the environmental
field as Asbestos Supervisors, Environmental Engineers, Field Response Technicians, HAZMAT Drivers,
or HAZWOPER Trainer Safety Inspectors. Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, eight Brownfields
Job Training graduates assisted with environmental cleanup and recovery efforts. One of them is Harold
Fields, who used his training to obtain employment with Environmental Restoration LLC, a company
contracted to perform cleanup activities in Louisiana. Mr. Fields helped with the removal of offshore
tanks and hazardous materials. Harold noted that, "Katrina cleanup has not been easy, but the Job Training
program provided me with the skills I needed to be at the top of my field. Plus, it is not just about the
money... I have gotten a great deal of satisfaction knowing that I am helping these people gain back some
sense of normalcy." According to Rafa Agro, Harold Fields' supervisor, "on a scale of one to ten, Harold
is a ten." Rafa added, "We have had to invest a lot of time and money to train local hires, Harold was a
breath of fresh air—he came to us well trained and he knows what he is doing."
Six graduates of the Brownfields Job Training program in Providence, Rhode Island also temporarily
relocated to New Orleans to assist with the hurricane cleanup effort. The engineering firm that recruited
the graduates paid all travel expenses, and each graduate received a $500 cash advance. The graduates
made $22.92 per hour during this assignment and averaged 60-70 hours of work per week. And 12
graduates from the EPA Brownfields grant-funded, Williamsburg Works Job Training Program in
Brooklyn, New York helped to clean up U.S. Navy ships returning from Iraq.
EPA-funded, Brownfields Job Training programs have also created a sense of empowerment through
opportunities for entrepreneurship. A graduate of the St. Louis Community College, Missouri Job
Training Program, Ms. Christina Brooks started her own business, Brook Environmental LLC. The
company has since completed multiple environmental cleanup jobs for the City of St. Louis, including
one that required the removal of 8,000 square feet of asbestos-laden ceiling. The company was also
Brownfields Success Story
EPA Brownfields Job Training Grants-
Building Careers and Cleaning the Environment
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
continued ^
EPA 560-F-10-209
July 2010
www. epa.gov/brownfields/
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awarded a contract to perform environmental cleanup activities at the St. Louis Airport. Ms. Brooks noted,
"the Job Training Program gave me the skills and the training I needed. The program motivated me to start
my own business; if it weren't for this program, I would not be where
I am today."
While most graduates of Brownfields Job Training go to work
after they graduate, some choose to continue their education. One
graduate of the Williamsburg Works Job Training Program in
Brooklyn enrolled in a four-year environmental degree program
at Medgar Evers College, while a fellow graduate enrolled in a
four-year environmental degree program at the New York Institute
of Technology. Three graduates from the New Jersey Youth Corps
Job Training Program in Phillipsburg enrolled in two-year degree
programs, and an additional 16 graduates entered and completed
Supervisor training. The JFYNetworks Job Training Program in
Boston, Massachusetts helps participants to earn
Brownfields Job Training grantees typically partner with and certificates of completion.
leverage resources from other federal, state, and local agencies;
nonprofit and for-profit organizations; colleges and universities; and community groups to augment their
training programs and ensure the success of participants. Several Brownfields Job Training grantees
discovered that participants obtaining a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) with J^AZMAT and Tanker
endorsements greatly increased their prospects of obtaining employment in the environmental field. Many
Job Training programs provide incentives to improve participation and retain trainees, such as offering life
skills and job readiness courses or allowing training to count toward a two- or four-year degree. The New
Jersey Youth Corps Brownfields Job Training Program in Phillipsburg pays participants a
stipend that covers basic needs while in training through funding from the state. Other
incentives include General Education Diploma (GED) assistance, environmental-
related community service projects, diverse financial services and car leasing
programs, and instruction in English and Spanish.
CONTACTS:
Other programs, such as Lawrence's Ambiente Program, offer incentives for
employers to hire program graduates, in the form of tax credits; the Work
Opportunity Tax Credit, a credit of up to $2,400 per qualifying employee,
and the Renewal Community Tax Credit, a credit of $1,500 per year for each
qualifying employee, help to ensure that EPA graduates are seen as employees of
choice when they finish their training.
For more information contact
EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land
Revitalization: (202) 566-2777
Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Gary Kaplan, Executive Director of JFYNetWorks in Boston, noted that EPA
Brownfields Job Training grants are filling a need: the demand for locally trained
environmental field technicians qualified to clean up brownfields. Kaplan further noted,
"Training programs are designed to place participants in jobs that have a career ladder... once
in the industry, folks can receive additional training and certifications to find different types of work—
work that leads to a career in the environmental field." Donald Grumbine, a graduate of the New Jersey
Youth Corps Job Training Program in Phillipsburg, noted that "students acquire not only knowledge but also
a strong measure of empowerment: before the Brownfields Program, many of the students had been
working odd jobs; now these students have highly marketable career skills and have achieved a great
personal accomplishment."
Brownfields Success Story
EPA Brownfields Job Training Grants-
Building Careers and Cleaning the Environment
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-10-209
July 2010
www. epa.gov/brownfields/
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