Brownfields 2013 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet Zender Environmental Health and Research Group, Rural Alaska Native Villages EPA Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant Program In 2010, the Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) led an effort to more closely collaborate with other programs within EPA on workforce development and job training. Program offices now participating in the expanded initiative include 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), Office of Wastewater Management (OWM), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), and the Office of Emergency Management (OEM). This initiative was created to develop a job training cooperative agreement opportunity that includes expanded training in other environmental media outside the traditional scope of brownfields hazardous waste remediation. As a result of this effort, the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants Program now allows applicants to deliver other training in the environmental field, in addition to the core traditional brownfields hazardous waste and petroleum training historically provided. 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 underemployed 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. Since 1998, EPA has funded 206 job training grants totaling over $45 million through the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants Program. As of March 2013, approximately 11,473 individuals have completed training, of which approximately 8,198 have obtained employment in the environmental field with an average starting hourly wage of $14.12. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 71% since the program was created. Job Training Grant $200,000 EPA selected Zender Environmental Health and Research Group for an Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant. Zender plans to train 32 students, place 28 graduates in environmental jobs, and track graduates for fifteen months. The core training program includes 168 hours of instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER, freon recovery, resource recovery and solid waste management, landfill operator, home and facility light auditing, forklift operator, site alternative treatment, leaking underground storage tank corrective action (e.g., site assessment and remediation)awareness, including procedures for tank removal when necessary to perform corrective action, above-ground storage tank removal, oil spill emergency response, water and soil sample collection, fuel (e.g., home heating oil) tank inspection, and confined space entry. A total of four state and five federal certifications will be offered. Zender is targeting unemployed residents of small and rural Alaskan Native Villages located throughout Alaska. Key partners include the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Association of Village Council Presidents Housing Authority, Total ReClaim, and tribal programs throughout the state. 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 10 Brownfields Team (206)553-7299 EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site (http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CL EANUP.NSF/sites/bf) Grant Recipient: Zender Environmental Health and Research Group,AK United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA560-F-13-190 June 2013 ------- 9072772111 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 Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20450 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA560-F-13-190 June 2013 ------- |