&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA500-F-01-221
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
The Brownfields Job Training Pilot
Program: Fulfilling the Commitment
to Environmental Justice
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE STORY
n October 1999, the Council on Urban Economic Development
(CUED) released a study confirming that EPA's Brownfields Initia-
tive is being put to use in the communities that need it most: blighted
communities of racial and ethnic minorities and low-income citi-
zens. With median incomes within Brownfields Pilot-targeted ar-
eas at 30 percent below the national average, the Initiative mirrors
EPA's focus on the impact of environmental pollution on disadvan-
taged segments of society. The Agency defines environmental jus-
tice as the "fair treatment for people of all races, cultures, and in-
comes, regarding the development of environmental laws, regula-
tions, and policies." As part of the Brownfields Initiative, EPA in-
corporates a strategy to address environmental justice as part of the
economic restoration of communities affected by these sites.
The Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot program
is EPA's latest effort in its dual commitment to environmental jus-
tice and brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Job Training Pi-
lots, which are funded at up to $200,000 each over two years, foster
workforce development through environmental training while en-
suring that trainees are recruited from disadvantaged communities.
continued ^
JUST THE FACTS:
• Brownfields Job Training Pilots have an
average retention rate of 76 percent once
students begin training.
• Nearly 70 percent of Brownfields Job
Training program graduates have found
employment in the environmental field, with
an average salary of more than $13 per hour.
• EPA has also partnered with other federal
agencies to promote job training for residents
of disadvantaged communities in the vicinity
of Brownfields Assessment Demonstration
Pilots.
Brownfields Job Training Pilots, which
are funded at up to $200,000 each
over two years, foster workforce
development through environmental
training while ensuring that trainees
are recruited from disadvantaged
communities.
ERA'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 $500,000 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.
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By providing quality worker training, this initiative allows local residents
an opportunity to qualify for jobs created as a result of brownfields cleanup
and redevelopment efforts. To date, 37 Job Training Pilots have been
awarded. These Pilots are located either within or adjacent to
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilots, and facilitate cleanup
of targeted brownfields while training residents impacted by these
brownfields for employment in the environmental field.
CONTACTS:
Oakland Private Industry Council
(510)891-9393
Young Community Developers
(415)822-3491
EPA Headquarters
(202) 260-4039
Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Job Training Pilots are administered through local job training and
educational organizations. Beyond the environmental training program
provided through EPA's grant, many of these organizations use their
own funding or leverage additional resources to offer life skills training
and professional development services for enrollees. The training curricula
range from three weeks to a year, and cover such diverse areas as environmental
assessment, cleanup methods, innovative treatment technologies, environmental lab
technologies, and environmental law, regulations and policy. To date, more than 550 participants
have graduated. Overall, the Pilots have a retention rate of 76 percent for students that begin
training. More than 380 of the programs' graduates have found employment in the environmen-
tal field—a placement rate of 69 percent—with an average salary of more than $13 per hour.
Examples of successful Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilots include the Oak-
land Private Industry Council (Cypress Mandela Training Center) in Oakland, California, and
the Young Community Developers program in San Francisco, California. The Council targets
low-income and otherwise disadvantaged residents, specifically those that participate in the Tem-
porary Assistance to Needy Families program. The program has graduated 132 trainees in four
13-week training cycles, and eighty percent of the graduates found jobs within two weeks. The
Young Community Developers program has graduated 24 participants, of which 16 are em-
ployed, earning an average of $20 per hour. The Pilot has also built strong partnerships with
local agencies, universities, unions, and private companies, and leveraged $173,000 in funds and
resources.
EPA has also partnered with other federal agencies to promote job training for disadvantaged
communities in the vicinity of Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilots. Memoranda of
Understanding with the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs promote environmental
workforce training programs in brownfields communities throughout the country. A partnership
with the National Institute for Environmental Health Services (NIEHS) is leveraging additional
job training opportunities for residents of Brownfields Pilot communities. EPA and NIEHS are
working to ensure that Minority Worker Training Program grants, established to help develop
training programs for minority youth, tie closely to ongoing activities in Brownfields Pilot cities.
And a cooperative agreement with the Hazardous Materials Training and Research Institute
(HMTRI), based in the Eastern Iowa Community College District, has expanded environmental
training and curriculum development at community colleges located near Brownfields Pilots.
HMTRI hosts workshops to assist community colleges and other job training organizations from
brownfields communities in developing environmental job training programs, and provides fol-
low-up technical assistance to help tailor programs to specific community labor market needs.
For more information on EPA's Brownfields Job Training Development and Demonstration Pilot
program, contact EPA Headquarters at (202) 260-4039.
Brownfields Success Story
June 2001
Environmental Justice Story
EPA 500-F-01-221
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