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Brownfields 2008
Grant Fact Sheet
Tacoma, WA
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 this 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 brownfields job training grants
provide residents of communities impacted by
brownfields with the skills and training needed to
effectively gain employment in assessment and cleanup
activities associated with brownfield redevelopment and
environmental remediation. Additionally, funding support
is provided to state and tribal response programs through
a separate mechanism.
Community Description
The City of Tacoma was selected to receive a job
training grant. Located on the southern tip of Puget
Sound, Tacoma is targeting low-income residents of
Pierce County who live near concentrations of former
gas station sites as identified by the Tacoma-Pierce
Job Training Grant
$200,000
EPA has selected the City of Tacoma for a job
training grant. Tacoma plans to train 60 students
over a two-year period, place 42 graduates in
environmental jobs, and track them for one year.
The training program will consist of four, 200-
hour training cycles comprising coursework in
HAZWOPER; OSHA safety; asbestos, lead,
mold, and heavy metal awareness; confined
space awareness; underground storage tanks;
and environmental chemistry and sampling.
Primary trainers will be certified instructors
using facilities provided, in-kind, by cooperative
partner Clover Park Technical College. Students
will be recruited from among low-income
residents of Pierce County communities that are
impacted by brownfields. Tacoma will work with
the Metropolitan Development Council to recruit
and screen students and ensure their graduation
and placement.
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.
Laura Caparroso, EPA Region 10
206-553-6378
http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/
sites/bf
Grant Recipient: Tacoma, WA
253-594-7933
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
County Health Department through its 2007 assess-
ment grant. Nearly 28 percent of the 224,484 individu-
als living in these areas are minorities, and more than
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-08-236
March 2008
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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12 percent live in poverty. The targeted areas have an
average of 28.7 brownfields per 10,000 residents, as
compared to only 1.9 brownfields per 10,000 residents
in surrounding areas. A recent Pierce County employ-
ment analysis lists hazardous materials removal
workers as an employer need, with one of the highest
average annual growth rates (3.6 percent) of any field
and over 50 new openings each year in the region.
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