Brownfields 2013 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
Tacoma, WA
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 the City of Tacoma for an
Environmental Workforce Development and Job
Training grant. The City of Tacoma plans to train
54 students, place 39 graduates in environmental
jobs, and track graduates for one year. The core
training program includes 206 hours of instruction
in 40-hr HAZWOPER; OSHA construction safety;
confined space entry; mold assessment and
remediation; forklift-construction reach and
warehouse; chemical awareness; leaking
underground storage tank corrective action (e.g.,
site assessment or remediation) awareness,
including procedures for tank removal when
necessary to perform corrective action; stormwater
management; and alternate treatment technologies.
Four supplemental training courses will be offered
to graduates, including Occupational Safety and
Health Administration disaster site worker;
certified erosion and sediment control lead;
asbestos worker; and lead renovation, repair, and
painting. A total of seven state and federal
certifications will be offered through the core
training program, with four additional
certifications available through supplemental
training. The city is targeting veterans,
unemployed and underemployed individuals, and
residents of Tacoma who have been
disproportionately impacted by environmental
threats, including leaking underground storage
tanks. Key partners include the Tacoma-Pierce
County Health Department, WorkForce Central,
Metropolitan Development Council, Tacoma
REACH Center, and Clover Park Technical College
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
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA560-F-13-197
June 2013
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(206)553-7299
EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site
(http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CL
EANUP.NSF/sites/bf)
Grant Recipient: City of Tacoma,WA
253-594-7933
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-13-197
June 2013
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