SEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-99-097 May 1999 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot Bernalillo County, NM Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101) Quick Reference Fact Sheet EPA'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 forthe 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. BACKGROUND EPA has selected Bernalillo County foraBrownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot. The county, which includes the City of Albuquerque, is also the recipient of a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The Bernalillo County Pilot will target the unincorporated area of South Valley (population 75,495), which is located along the Rio Grande River in a State-de signaled Enterprise Zone. It is one of the region's oldest areas, originally settled by Spanish families in the early 18th Century. South Valley's residents are 73 percent Hispanic, and approximately 48 percent of its students do not complete high school. South Valley's poverty rate is significantly higher than the county-wide average of 18 percent. The Pilot areais the most industrialized of the county's unincorporated areas and contains the majority of the county's brownfields. Large volumes of the shallow aquifer beneath South Valley have become contaminated by industrial activity. Bernalillo's efforts to revitalize the South Valley area and the need to create jobs for disadvantaged South Valley residents indicate a need for this Pilot. PILOT SNAPSHOT Bernalillo County, NewMexico Date of Announcement: May 1999 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot will train 60 participants as environmental technicians. Students will be recruited from low-income residents of the unincorporated, industrial South Valley area, which is located near Albuquerque and within a State EnterpriseZone. Contacts: Bernalillo County (505)924-3651 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 6 (214)665-6736 Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.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/ ------- TRAINING OBJECTIVES Bernalillo County plans to train 60 students, achieve a 70 percent placement rate, and track students for one year after the training has been completed. Participants will be recruited from local providers of the Welfare-to-Work and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families programs. The job training program will consist of environmental technician training, including training in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies. Potential employers have committedto hiring local residents for environmental assessment and cleanup jobs. In addition, the county will place graduates on a list of people to be re-hired under county contracts and to receive further training. The training efforts of Bernalillo County will be supported by organizations such as the Albuquerque Technical Vocation Institute, Rio Grande Community Development Corporation, Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments, Acme Environmental, Agra Environmental, YouthBuild New Mexico Coalition, and the City of Albuquerque Family and Community Services Department. A broad-based Advisory Committee will be established to help guide the Pilot training program. ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Conducting outreach to recruit low-income residents of the South Valley area; • Conducting environmental technician training, including courses in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies; and • Supporting career placement of students for one year after the job training is completed. The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this factsheetare subject to change. Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot Bernalillo County, New Mexico May 1999 EPA 500-F-99-097 ------- |