Brownfields 2015 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet Zender Environmental Health and Research Group, AK EPA Brownfields Program In 2010, the EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) led an effort to more closely collaborate with other programs within the Agency 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), Center for Program Analysis (CPA), Innovation, Partnerships, and Communication Office (IPCO), Office of Wastewater Management (OWM), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and the Urban Waters Program. 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 assessment and cleanup. As a result of this effort, the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program now allows applicants to deliver a broader array of training in the environmental field, in addition to the traditional brownfields hazardous waste and petroleum training historically provided. Through the expanded Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program, graduates develop wider skill sets that improve their ability to secure full-time, sustainable employment in various aspects of hazardous and solid waste management and within the larger environmental field, including water quality improvement and chemical safety. This effort also gives communities more flexibility to provide different types of environmental training based on local employers' hiring needs. Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant funds are provided to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train, and place residents from solid and hazardous waste-impacted communities, including low-income and minority, unemployed, and underemployed individuals. To date, EPA has funded 256 job training grants totaling over $54 million through the former Brownfields Job Training program and Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program. As of April 2015, more than 13,800 individuals have completed training, and of those, more than 10,000 have obtained employment in the environmental field, with an average starting hourly wage of $14.18. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 72% since the program was created in 1998. Job Training Grant $192,300.00 EPA has selected Zender Environmental Health and Research Group for an Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant. Zender plans to train 35 students, place 32 graduates in environmental jobs, and track graduates for 15 months. The core training program includes 193 hours of instruction, including coursework in 40-hour HAZWOPER, Freon recovery, home fuel tank assessment, resource recovery and solid waste management, landfill operator, forklift operator, wastewater lagoon and honey bucket sanitation, spill and emergency response, hazard communication, confined space entry, site alternative treatment, leaking underground and aboveground storage tank removal, Incident Command System training, water and soil sample collection, and sediment and erosion control. Program graduates will earn up to 12 state or federal certifications or licenses. Zender is targeting unemployed and underemployed residents of small and rural Alaskan Native Villages. Key partners include Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Association of Village Council Presidents, Kawerak, Inc., University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. 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 10 Brownfields Team (206) 553-2580 EPA Region 10 Brownfields Web site (https: //www. epa. go v/bro wnfields/brownfie lds-and-land-revitalization-washington-i daho-oregon-and-alaska ) Grant Recipient: Zender Environmental Health and Research Group, AK (907)341-3279 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 _ . w__tp Environmental EPA 560-F-15-026 Protection Agency Re™S (51<»T) M»»2015 Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (Si us ) ------- |