Brownfields 2017 Job Training Grant Fact Sheet
Earth Conservancy, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton Metropolitan Area, PA
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 Earth Conservancy for an Environmental
Workforce Development and Job Training grant. The Earth Conservancy
plans to train 40 students and place at least 35 graduates in
environmental jobs. The core training program includes 218 hours of
instruction in 40-hour HAZWOPER, OSHA 10-hour construction safety,
first aid/CPR/AED, introduction to brownfields, AutoCAD-level I,
surveying field assistant, basic land surveying techniques, GIS for
resource conservation, and terrestrial laser scanning. Participants who
complete the training program will earn three federal certifications. The
Earth Conservancy is targeting unemployed and underemployed
individuals, with a special emphasis on veterans, in the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metropolitan area. Key partners include
Pennsylvania State University-Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne/Schuylkill
Workforce Investment Board, Lackawanna County and Pocono County
Workforce Development Boards, Northern Tier Regional Planning
Development Commission, Employment Opportunity Training Center,
Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, and
Penn Eastern Engineers LLC.
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 3 Brownfields Team
(215)814-3129
EPA Region 3 Brownfields Web site
(https: //www. epa. go v/bro wnfields/brownfie
lds-and-land-revitalization-delaware-mar
yland-pennsylvania-Virginia-west)
Grant Recipient: Earth Conservancy, PA
(570) 823-3445
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-17-189
Protection Agency	Re™S (51<»T)	M»»2017
Washington, DC 20450	Kesponse (Si us )

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