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'^g? I Brownfields 2011 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
^ **"T/ 7A7e Center for Working Families, Inc., Atlanta, GA
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
The Center for Working Families, Inc., will target its job
training activities on a 3.5-square mile area south of
Job Training Grant
$300,000
EPA has selected The Center for Working
Families, Inc., (TCWFI) for an environmental
workforce development and job training grant.
TCWFI plans to train 34 students, place 29
graduates in environmental jobs, and track
graduates for one year. The Green Jobs
Opportunity Pathway training program will
consist of four 218-hour training cycles, with a
focus on hazardous and solid waste remediation
and green construction skills. Courses will include
40-hour HAZWOPER; OSHA construction safety
and health; underground storage tank leak
prevention awareness; green construction; and
lead, asbestos, and mold abatement. Primary
trainers will be Southface Energy Institute and
Clark Atlanta University. Students will be
recruited from unemployed and underemployed,
low-income residents of Neighborhood Planning
Unit-V (NPU-V) who face significant barriers to
employment. TCWFI will work with local
environmental employers and its training
providers to place graduates in environmental jobs
Of the several companies that have agreed to
interview program graduates, TCWFI
Construction Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of
TCWFI, has committed to hiring 60 percent of
program graduates for jobs that involve
rehabilitating houses in NPU-V.
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 4 Brownfields Team
(404) 562-8792
EPA Region 4 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region4/was te/bf)
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-11-047
July 2011
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AUiUllil KI1UWI1 CIS INClgllUUIIlUUU riiUlIHIlg UI11L- V
(NPU-V) (population 15,825). NPU-V, which is part of a
federally designated Renewal Community, includes five
of Atlanta's oldest residential neighborhoods. The target
communities have an abundance of vacant and
dilapidated houses that present potential health risks to
the community due to the presence of lead, asbestos,
mold, and electrical hazards. In NPU-V, 42 percent of
homes are vacant and, in some areas, up to 40 percent of
homes are in foreclosure. The target area has a poverty
rate of 35 percent and an unemployment rate of 18.3
percent, both of which far exceed state and national
averages. Ninety-two percent of NPU-V residents are
African-American. The Georgia Department of Labor
estimates that the demand for workers skilled in the
construction trades will grow by 13 percent between 2006
and 2016, and demand for specialty trade contractors is
expected to grow by 41 percent during the same time
period. In addition, Atlanta is poised to take advantage of
an influx of federal funding for weatherization and green
construction. These trends point to a long term need for
workers with green construction and environmental
technician training.
Grant Recipient: The Center for Working
Families, Inc.,GA
4042307127
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-11-047
July 2011
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