2012 Environmental Workforce Development
   ^2 |   and Job Training  Grant Fact Sheet
              Arkansas Construction Education Foundation, Little Rock and
              North Little Rock, AR
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 just
brownfields cleanup. As a result of this effort, the
Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training
Grants Program, formerly known as the "Brownfields 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
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. To date, EPA has funded 191 job
training grants totaling  over $42 million through the
former Brownfields Job Training Program and newly
expanded Environmental Workforce Development and
Job Training Program.  As of January 2012, approximately
10,275 individuals had completed training and
approximately 7,155 obtained employment in the
environmental field, with an average starting hourly wage
                    Environmental Workforce
                    Development and Job Training
                    Grant

                    $200,000
                    EPA has selected the Arkansas Construction
                    Education Foundation (ACEF) for an
                    environmental workforce development and job
                    training grant. ACEF plans to train 90 students,
                    place 72 graduates in environmental jobs, and
                    track graduates for one year. The environmental
                    training program includes 124 hours of instruction
                    in 40-hour HAZWOPER, UST leak prevention,
                    asbestos worker, sustainable construction
                    supervisor, confined space entry, construction and
                    demolition debris recycling, alternative treatment
                    technologies, and green stormwater management.
                    A minimum of three state and federal
                    certifications will be offered to program
                    participants. ACEF is targeting unemployed and
                    underemployed homeless individuals in Little
                    Rock, North Little Rock, and central Arkansas.
                    Key partners include Better Community
                    Development, Inc., Our House Shelter, the Little
                    Rock Workforce Investment Board, Snyder
                    Environmental, and the University of Arkansas at
                    Little Rock.
                    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)665-3172
                    EPA Region 6 Brownfields Web site
                    (http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf
                    /brownfields/index.html)

                    Grant Recipient: Arkansas Construction Education
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA560-F-12-173
      June 2012

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of $14.12. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of
approximately 70% for the program, and also includes
accomplishments data recorded since the program was
created in 1998.
                      Foundation
                      501-372-1590

                      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-12-173
      June 2012

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