Description
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of funds and soliciting applications from eligible entities to deliver Brownfields Job Training programs. The objective of the Brownfields Job Training Program is to recruit, train, and place unemployed and under-employed residents of solid and hazardous waste-impacted communities with the skills needed to obtain full-time, sustainable employment in various aspects of hazardous and solid waste management and within the larger environmental field. The program aims to further environmental justice by ensuring that all residents living in communities historically affected by economic disinvestment, health disparities, and disproportionate and adverse exposures to environmental contamination have an opportunity to reap the benefits of revitalization and environmental cleanup.
Some key aspects of the program include:
• Training in brownfields assessment and cleanup, as well as training in community involvement and site preparation for sustainability and equitable reuse and development
• Eligible uses of grant funds include personnel costs, training materials, and development of curricula
• Ineligible uses of grant funds include general construction skills, natural resource extraction, and conducting actual site assessments or cleanups
• Applicants must identify a target area to serve, which can be any area impacted by the presence of one or more brownfield sites
• Applications will be evaluated based on factors such as the extent to which they partner with and secure hiring commitments from local contractors and stakeholders, and the extent to which they serve high-need individuals in the target area
• The EPA expects to award 24 grants, with a maximum award of $500,000 each, and a total of $12,000,000 in funding available.