Brownfields 2011 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
™ Texarkana, TX
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
Located in the northeast corner of Texas, Texarkana
(population 36,411) is in a region that has been hit hard by
Job Training Grant
$300,000
EPA has selected the City of Texarkana for an
environmental workforce development and job
training grant. Texarkana plans to train 36
students, place 29 graduates, and track them for
one year. The training program will consist of
three 370-hour training cycles that will include
40-hour HAZWOPER, underground storage tank
leak prevention awareness, solid waste
management, lead paint and mold abatement, and
innovative and alternative treatment technologies.
Primary trainers will be from the city, Texas A &
M-Texarkana, Texas Engineering Extension
Service, and Texas Workforce Development
Center. With the assistance of Texas A & M and
the Workforce Center, students will be recruited
from low-income, unemployed, or underemployed
residents. Texarkana will work with regional
employers, employment agencies, and the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality to place
graduates in environmental jobs. The city has local
hiring incentives in place that encourage hiring of
local residents.
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/bro wnfields)
Grant Recipient: City of Texarkana, Texas
(903) 798-3901
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-11-055
July 2011
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the Base Realignment and Closure process, as well as
closures and downsizing of regional manufacturers.
Texarkana has a higher poverty rate and lower median
household incomes than state or national rates.
Approximately 66 percent of residents are minorities
whose incomes are much lower than the city average.
Texarkana has a profusion of Superfund sites,
brownfields, and abandoned manufacturing facilities. The
Lone Star Ammunition plant and parts of the Red River
Army Depot are Superfund sites, as is the former
Kerr-McGee plant. Labor market assessments and
employer surveys conducted in the community indicate a
high demand for skilled environmental professionals with
the certifications offered by the program. Regional
employers are having difficulty finding applicants with
environmental training and skills, and expect to add new
environmental technician jobs within the next three years,
indicating ongoing demand for program graduates.
agreement for the grant has not yet been
negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this
fact sheet are subject to change.
United States
Environmental and Emergency EPA 56°t"
Protection Agency Resoonse (51 Q5Ti July
Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (bl Ob I)
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