Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the selection of 19 organizations to receive a total of $3,797,102 in grants for job training programs across the country. Job training and workforce development are an important part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advance economic opportunities and deliver environmental justice to underserved communities to build a better America.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a better America and that means new, good-paying jobs. The Brownfields Job Training grants announced today will prepare over 1,000 individuals for new environmental jobs like those,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This program will directly impact people’s lives, boosting the environmental workforce while helping to transform communities that need it the most.”
Funded through the Agency’s Brownfields Job Training Program, these grants provide funding to organizations that are working to create a skilled workforce in communities where assessment, cleanup, and preparation of brownfield sites for reuse activities are taking place. Individuals completing a job training program funded by EPA often overcome a variety of barriers to employment. Many of these individuals are from historically underserved neighborhoods and reside in the areas affected by environmental justice issues.
Each selected grantee will be receiving approximately $200,000. Today’s selected grantees are:
- Alaska Forum, Inc. Anchorage, Alaska
- City of Pittsburg Pittsburg, California
- City of Richmond Richmond, California
- Los Angeles Conservation Corporation Los Angeles, California
- Hunters Point Family San Francisco, California
- Pioneer Bay Community Development Corporation Port St. Joe, Florida
- OAI, Inc. Chicago, Illinois
- Workforce, Inc. dba Recycle Force Indianapolis, Indiana
- Civics Works, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland
- City of Springfield Springfield, Missouri
- Heartland Conservation Alliance Kansas City, Missouri
- St. Louis Community College St. Louis, Missouri
- Pathstone Corporation Rochester, New York
- City of Rochester Rochester, New York
- Laborer’s Local 17 Training and Educational Fund Newburgh, New York
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Concho, Oklahoma
- Auberle McKeesport, Pennsylvania
- Coalfield Development Corporation Wayne, West Virginia
- Great Lakes Community Conservation Corp, Inc. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Lead and asbestos abatement,
- Hazardous waste operations and emergency response,
- Mold remediation,
- Environmental sampling and analysis, and
- Other environmental health and safety training.
EPA is also planning a listening session to receive feedback from current and potential grant applicants regarding the BIL and the future of the Brownfields Job Training Grant Program. The listening session is scheduled for February 9, 2022, 12:30-2pm EST. https://usepa.zoomgov.com/j/1604678094
Since this program began in 1998, the Brownfields Job Training Program has awarded more than 352 grants. More than 19,456 individuals have completed training, and of those, more than 14,560 individuals have been placed in full-time employment in careers related to remediation and environmental health and safety. The average starting wage for these individuals is over $14 an hour.
For more information on today’s selected Brownfields Job Training grant recipients, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy22-brownfields-job-training-grants
For more information on this, and other types of Brownfields grants, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-job-training-jt-grants
