Brownfields 2017 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet Zender Environmental Health and Research Group, Rural Alaska EPA Brownfields Program EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country cleanup and revitalize brownfields sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism. 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 274 job training grants totaling over $57 million through the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training program. As of May 2017, more than 16,300 individuals have completed training, and of those, almost 12,000 have obtained employment in the environmental field, an average starting wage of over $14 an hour. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 73% since the program was created in 1998. Job Training Grant $200,000.00 EPA has selected the Zender Environmental Health and Research Group for an Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant. The Zender Environmental Health and Research Group plans to train 35 students and place at least 32 graduates in environmental jobs. The core training program includes 204 hours of instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER and 19 other courses under the following categories: brownfields waste assessment and cleanup training, solid waste management, spill response, and climate change-specific natural disasters flooding. Participants who complete the training program will earn 15 state or federal certifications. The Zender Environmental Health and Research Group is targeting federally recognized tribes in rural Alaska and their communities, including veterans, as well as beneficiaries of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs, and ex-offenders in rural areas throughout the State of Alaska. Key partners include the Municipality of Anchorage, State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Bristol Bay Native Association, University of Alaska-Fairbank, The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Total Reclaim, and Native Villages of Port Heiden, Hooper Bay, and Brevig Mission. 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) 553-7299 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)444-5535 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-17-182 Protection Agency Re™S (51<»T) M»»2017 Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse (Si us ) ------- |