Brownfields 2009 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, Waterbury
EPA Brownfields Program
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.
Community Description
The Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board
(NRWIB) was selected to receive a job training grant. The
NRWIB serves 41 municipalities in northwest
Connecticut with a combined population of 600,000. The
NRWIB estimates that there are several hundred
brownfield sites within its service area. The focus of this
project will be within the City of Waterbury, the largest
municipality in the region. About 18 percent of city
residents live below the poverty level. In the target area,
that figure approaches 50 percent. Many of the mill
developments along the city's rivers and streams are now
abandoned and blighted. These brownfields no longer
provide much needed revenues to fund city services.
Labor market assessments indicate that employment
prospects and wages for program graduates could start
them toward achieving a living wage that is sufficient to
support a family. The aggressive environmental initiatives
in the region and the addition of a green component by a
local employer will provide job opportunities for
environmental technicians.
Job Training Grant
$200,000
EPA has selected the Northwest Regional
Workforce Investment Board (NRWIB) for a job
training grant. An aggressive outreach effort will
be conducted to recruit potential trainees from
Waterbury. The NRWIB plans to train 60
students, place 50 graduates in environmental
jobs, and track students for one year. The training
program will consist of three 336-hour cycles and
include 164 hours of environmental, health, safety,
and industrial training; 112 hours of lead and
asbestos abatement training; and remediation
technologies training. The NRWIB will solicit
experienced instructors to conduct the training.
The NRWIB will work with the Waterbury
Development Corporation, trade unions,
environmental organizations, and private sector
remediation specialists 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 1 Brownfields Team
(617)918-1424
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/regionl/bro wnfields)
Grant Recipient: Northwest Regional Workforce
Investment Board, Waterbury
(203) 574-697lext 426
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)
EPA 560-F-09-003
January 2009
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