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\W7 2 Brownfields 2011 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
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EPA Brownfields Program
In 2010, the Office of Brownfields and Land
Revitalization (OBLR) led an effort to more closely
collaborate on workforce development and job training
with other programs within EPA's Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), including
the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery
(ORCR), Office of Superfund Remediation and
Technology Innovation (OSRTI), Office of
Underground Storage Tanks (OUST), Federal Facilities
Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO), Center for
Program Analysis (CPA), Innovation, Partnerships, and
Communication Office (IPCO), and the Office of
Emergency Management (OEM) to develop a job
training cooperative agreement opportunity that
includes expanded training in other environmental
media outside the traditional scope of just brownfields.
As a result of these discussions, the "Environmental
Workforce Development and Job Training Grants
Program," formerly known as the "Brownfields Job
Training Grants Program," was formed and now
provides grantees the ability to deliver additional
hazardous and solid waste training. By expanding the
program, communities are provided the flexibility to
deliver new types of environmental training based on
local labor market demands.
Environmental Workforce Development and Job
Training grant funds are provided to nonprofit
organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train,
and place predominantly low-income and minority,
unemployed and under-employed residents from solid
and hazardous waste-impacted communities. Residents
learn the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable
employment in the environmental field, including a
focus on assessment and cleanup activities. These
grants help to create green jobs that reduce
environmental contamination and promote
sustainability in communities throughout the nation.
EPA awarded its first Brownfields Job Training Grants
in 1998. To date, more than 5,000 people have obtained
environmental employment in the environmental field
with an average starting hourly wage of $14.65.
Community Description
Job Training Grant
$300,000
EPA has selected Arc of Greater New Orleans for an
environmental workforce development and job
training grant. Arc of Greater New Orleans plans to
train 43 students, place 35 graduates in
environmental jobs, and track graduates for one
year. The core training program will consist of 410
hours, with three additional tracks of 110 to 112
hours for solid waste management, energy efficiency
technologies for remediated sites, and renewable
energy preparation and installation for remediated
sites. Core courses will include 40-hour
HAZWOPER; underground storage tank leak
prevention awareness; deconstruction, construction,
and demolition waste recycling awareness; and
renewable energy technologies awareness. Primary
trainers will be from CORE USA, Barnes Ferland
and Associates, and Joule Energy. Students will be
recruited from low-income residents, residents
displaced from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill,
ex-offenders, veterans, and individuals with
disabilities. Arc of Greater New Orleans will work
with trade unions, energy companies, demolition and
weatherization organizations, and other local
employers to place graduates in environmental jobs.
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 6 Brownfields Team
(214) 665-6780
EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Arc of Greater New Orleans,LA
5048375105
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-11-053
Jul 11
-------
Arc ot Lrreater JNew Urleans will target its job training
activities in Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard Parishes
(combined population 812,278), where from 13 to 23
percent of residents live below the poverty level. In
Orleans Parish, 70 percent of residents are minorities.
Foreclosure rates in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes
have increased more than 60 percent since January
2010. The economic effects of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico
oil spill are still being evaluated in all three parishes.
These parishes have a higher number of brownfields
and Superfund sites than the rest of the state,
particularly in low-income, minority neighborhoods.
Contaminated sites include petrochemical refineries
along the Mississippi River. Labor market assessments
indicate there will be a great need for residential,
commercial, and industrial energy efficiency workers in
the near future. Surveys of employers also found that
several industries will need workers with the skills of
program graduates, including recycling, demolition,
green development, and construction training. There is
demand in all three parishes for a skilled labor force of
environmental technicians.
agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
subject to change.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-11-053
Jul 11
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