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Brownfields 2013 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
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 OAI, Inc., for an Environmental
Workforce Development and Job Training grant.
OAI plans to train 45 students, place 40 graduates
in environmental jobs, and track graduates for a
minimum of one year. The core training program
includes 94-hours of coursework in 40-hour
HAZWOPER, 10-hour Occupational Safety and
Health Administration construction safety,
confined space, lead abatement, mold and asbestos
awareness, and leaking underground storage tank
corrective action (e.g., site assessment and
remediation ) awareness, including procedures for
tank removal when necessary to perform
corrective action. Additional core coursework is
being leveraged by partners, including forklift
operator training (16 hours) and comprehensive
modules in landscaping/alternative treatment
technologies (400 hours), ecological restoration
and natural resources (485 hours), and
professional development and career advancement
(90 hours). A total of five federal and state
certifications and one regional certification will be
offered. OAI is targeting unemployed and
underemployed residents, veterans, dislocated
workers, ex-offenders and at-risk young adults
from Chicago's West and South Sides, which
include HUD designated Empowerment Zones
and Renewal Communities. Key partners include
the City of Chicago Department of Transportation,
Forest Preserve District of Cook County,
Signature Staff Resources, WRD Environmental,
Safer Foundation, National Able Network,
Chicago Urban League, and Literacy Chicago
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 5 Brownfields Team
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA560-F-13-192
June 2013
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312-886-4747
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region5bro wnfields/)
Grant Recipient: OAI, Inc., Chicago
312-528-3523
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-13-192
June 2013
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