| ^ \ Brownfields 2017 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
OAI Inc., Chicago, IL
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 OAI, Inc. for an Environmental Workforce
Development and Job Training grant. OAI plans to train 45 students and
place at least 40 graduates in environmental jobs. The core training
program includes 1,080 hours of instruction in: 40-hour HAZWOPER;
HAZWOPER refresher; OSHA general industry safety; first aid/CPR;
defensive driving; green infrastructure; integrated pest management;
ecological restoration, plant identification, and landscape maintenance;
and Chicago wilderness bum, urban forestry. Participants who complete
the training program will earn one state and three federal certifications.
OAI is targeting ex-offenders, minorities, and veterans living in
UUD-designated empowerment zones and surrounding renewal
communities in the west, lower west, and south sides of Chicago. Key
partners include Chicago Department of Transportation, WRD
Environmental, Forest Preserves of Cook County, City of Chicago
Department of Fleet and Facility Management, Signature Staffing
Resources, Republic Services, Applied Ecological Services, Cook
County Department of Environmental Control, Chicago Park District,
Literacy Chicago, Youth Guidance, North Lawndale Employment
Network, and Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
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
(312)886-3009
EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
(https: //www. epa. go v/bro wnfields/brownfie
lds-and-land-revitalization-illinois-ind
iana-michigan-minnesota-ohio-and)
Grant Recipient: OAI, Inc., IL
(312)528-3552
Hie 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-17-184
Protection Agency	Re™S (51<»T)	M»»2017
Washington, DC 20450	Kesponse (Si us )

-------