^lDir'%
  * ^fl^b  •
  \W7 2    Brownfields 2011  Job Training Grant Fact  Sheet
  %\^    ^^c of Greater New Orleans, LA
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

-------