Br<>wnfields 2002 Job Training Pilot Fact Sheet
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Nespelem, Washington
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 the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation for a Brownfields Job Training and
Development Demonstration Pilot. The Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation also is a recipient of a
Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The Reservation is
located in a remote area of north-central Washington
near the Canadian border. Tribal membership is 8,500
and approximately half of the members live on the
Reservation, where unemployment is 45%.
The Indian Health Service has identified 10 brownfields
on the Reservation, and the Tribal Planning Department
has identified 173 illegal dump sites on the Reservation.
The Brownfields Assessment Pilot is addressing the
Agency Headquarters site in Nespelem and another site
located in Inchelium. The sites are located within two of
four federal Enterprise Communities on the Reservation.
The Enterprise Communities are actively engaged in
housing, infrastructure, and economic redevelopment
projects. Because of its remote location and the lack of
trained environmental technicians living on the
Reservation, the cost of bringing trained technicians onto
the Reservation to address known or suspected
contamination hinders Tribal redevelopment efforts.
Training is needed for local residents to allow the Tribe
to address brownfields and other contamination
Pilot Snapshot
Date of Announcement: 12/01/2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will train 40 students as
environmental technicians. Students will be recruited
from low-income residents of the Colville
Reservation, where the unemployment rate is 45%
and 173 illegal dump sites have been identified.
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/CLEANUP.NSF/
sites/bf)
Grant Recipient: Colville Confederated Tribes,WA
(509) 634-2723
Objectives
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
plans to train 40 students, achieve a 75% placement
rate, and support career placement of graduates for one
year after the training is completed. Students will be
recruited from low-income residents of the Colville
Reservation. The 224-hour Pilot hazardous materials
technician training program will consist of
HAZWOPER, lead abatement, asbestos abatement,
confined space, spill response, and trenching and
excavation safety including training in the use of
innovative assessment and cleanup technologies.
The training efforts of the Confederated Tribes of the
Colville Reservation will be supported by organizations
such as the Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation Program,
Tribal Employment and Training Program, Wenatchee
Valley College North, Highline Community College,
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA500-F-01-01-361
Dec 01
-------
problems. and Worksafe Institute of Washington. The Colville
Tribes have enacted a Tribal Employment Rights
Ordinance requiring employers operating on the
Reservation to give hiring preference to members of the
Colville Tribes. Training program participants will earn
Continuing Education Units that may be applied to an
associates or bachelors degree in the environmental
field.
Activities
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting outreach to recruit low-income
residents of the Colville Reservation;
• 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-01-01-361
Protection Agency ResDonse(51oVn Dec 01
Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (bl Ob I)
------- |