i O \ Brownfields 2010 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
/ Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida
Counties, NY
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.
Community Description
The Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer,
Madison, and Oneida Counties was selected to receive
a job training grant. Located in central New York State,
the Workforce Investment Board will target its job
training activities in the City of Utica (population
59,997). Nearly 25 percent of Utica residents living in
the city's urban core neighborhoods live in poverty, and
the per capita income is below state and national levels.
Between 1960 and 2007, the city's population declined
by more than 40,000, and unemployment rates in the
most economically impoverished neighborhoods are as
high as 19.5 percent. There are 11 brownfields in the
assessment or cleanup phase within one mile of the
city's urban core, which also is a state-designated
environmental justice area. A labor market assessment
found that employers will have up to 130 full-time job
openings through 2011 for skilled environmental
technicians, and state information shows that local
demand for environmental technicians will increase
19.4 percent by 2014.
Job Training Grant
$200,000
EPA has selected the Workforce Investment Board
of Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties for a
job training grant. The Workforce Investment Board
(WIB) plans to train 75 students, place 70 graduates
in environmental jobs, and track graduates for one
year. The training program will consist of nine
12-week training cycles that will include a core
curriculum of 200 hours. Training will include
40-hour HAZWOPER, 10- and 30-hour OSHA
health and safety training, lead and asbestos
abatement, green technologies (including principles
of sustainable construction and energy efficiency
training), and fork lift operator training. Primary
trainers will be the Mohawk Valley Community
College and Oneida County Health Department.
With the help of community partners, the program
will recruit unemployed adults, low-income
individuals working part-time, older youths, and
ex-offenders living in the City of Utica. As the lead
agency in the region's One-Stop Career Center
system, the WIB will use its services and employer
contacts to place graduates in environmental jobs.
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 2 Brownfields Team
(212) 637-3260
EPA Region 2 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region2/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: Workforce Investment Board of
Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties,NY
(315) 793-6037
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative
United States	c
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Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	APr 10
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agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are
subject to change.
United States	c
Environmental	anri Fmpflpn™	EPA 560-F-10-245
_ . .	and Emergency	. . _
Protection Agency	Response (5105T)	APr 10
Washington, DC 20450	^ v '

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