Brownfields 2001 Job Training Pilot Fact Sheet
Western Iowa Tech Community College, Sioux City, IA
EPA Brownfields Initiative
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield 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 contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into
law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields 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. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through a
separate mechanism.
Background
EPA has selected Western Iowa Tech Community
College for a Brownfields Job Training and
Development Demonstration Pilot. The College's
assessment pilot partner is Sioux City. Metropolitan
Sioux City (population 106,000) encompasses a
state-designated Enterprise Zone, which includes a large
minority population. Eleven percent of Enterprise Zone
residents are living below the poverty rate. Sioux City's
per capita income is in the bottom half of the largest 350
cities in the United States.
The Job Training Pilot will recruit residents of the state
Enterprise Zone. Changes in the meat packing industry
over the past 35 years have left a legacy of abandoned
warehouses, factories, and other commercial buildings
within the Enterprise Zone. Many of the properties
contain hazardous materials that will need to be assessed
and cleaned up before the properties can be reused. In
addition, lead-based paint continues to be a health threat
to residents. Environmental companies, particularly those
working on projects stimulated by the Sioux City
Brownfields Assessment Pilot, are interested in hiring
local residents trained as environmental technicians. No
other environmental technician training is offered in the
region.
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 12/01/2000
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 50 students as
environmental technicians. Students will be recruited
from the state Enterprise Zone in Sioux City, which
has suffered economic disinvestment as a result of
changes in the meat packing industry over the past 35
years.
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
(http ://www .epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 7 Brownfields Team
(800)223-0425
EPA Region 7 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brown fields)
Grant Recipient: Western Iowa Tech Community
College, Sioux City, IA
(712) 274-6400 ext 1258
Objectives
Western Iowa Tech Community College plans to train
50 participants, achieve a 75% job placement rate, and
support career placement of graduates for one year after
the training is completed. Participants will be recruited
from the state Enterprise Zone. The 222-hour Pilot
training program will consist of HAZWOPER training,
OSHA general construction, lead abatement worker,
introduction to environmental technology, ecosystem
restoration and innovative techniques, and FastTrac
Entrepreneurship Program (40-hour optional course),
including training in the use of innovative assessment
and remediation technologies.
The training efforts of Western Iowa Tech Community
College will be supported by organizations such as
Goodwill Industries, Siouxland Community Health
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-01-00-277
Dec 00
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Center, Woodbury County Community Action Agency,
Sioux City American Indian Center, City of Sioux City,
and Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
An advisory committee consisting of project partners
has been formed to coordinate Pilot activities.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit residents of the
state Enterprise Zone;
• Conducting training for entry-level positions as
brownfields technicians, 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 information presented in this fact sheet comes from
the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of
this information. The cooperative agreement for the
grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities
described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
United States _ ., . w__tp
Environmental and Emergency EPA 500-F-01-00-277
Protection Agency ResDonse(51oVn Dec 00
Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (bl Ob I)
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