(AGENPARL) - Roma, 12 Dicembre 2024 - (AGENPARL) – gio 12 dicembre 2024 Issued: Dec 12, 2024 (11:00am EST)
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Biden-Harris Administration Boosts Workforce Training in Underserved and
Overburdened Communities, Invests Nearly $7.7 Million in Brownfields Job
Training Grants under Investing in America Agenda
WASHINGTON – (December 12, 2024) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) announced the selection of 16 organizations to receive nearly
$7.7 million in grants for environmental job training programs across the
country. The EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Program grants are funded by
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will help recruit,
train, and place workers for community revitalization and cleanup projects at
brownfield sites while advancing economic opportunity and environmental
justice. EPA Office of Land and Emergency Management Deputy Assistant
Administrator Cliff Villa will announce the awards in Wichita, Kansas today
alongside grant recipient Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas, EPA’s
Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister, and the City of Wichita Council Member
Brandon Johnson.
“EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Program grants are changing lives and
improving communities that have been overburdened by contaminated properties
for far too long,” said Cliff Villa, EPA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator
for Land and Emergency Management. “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing
in America agenda, EPA is helping to create good-paying jobs for low income,
unemployed, and under-employed residents who are helping make their
communities cleaner, healthier and stronger.”
The Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas, the host of today’s event,
will provide training in key areas, including asbestos abatement, obtaining a
commercial driver’s license for the transportation of hazardous waste, RCRA
Hazardous Waste Management, and OSHA 30-hour Occupational Health and Safety
for General Industry. This comprehensive training will equip students with the
necessary expertise to contribute effectively to their community and empower
students with the essential skills needed to tackle and mitigate critical
environmental issues within the local community.
Each Brownfields Job Training grant, of up to $500,000, will 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 are
from historically underserved neighborhoods or reside in the areas that are
affected by environmental justice issues. All of the FY25 Brownfields Job
Training Program applications selected have proposed to work in areas that
include disadvantaged communities as defined by the Climate & Economic Justice
Screening Tool, delivering on President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to
deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to
disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and
overburdened by pollution.
Individuals typically graduate from the program with a variety of
certifications that improve their marketability and help ensure that
employment opportunities are not just temporary contractual work, but
long-term environmental careers. This includes certifications in:
Lead and asbestos abatement;
Mold remediation;
Environmental sampling and analysis; and
Other environmental health and safety training. 
Today’s selected applicants are:
Groundwork Rhode Island – Pawtucket, RI
Worcester, City of – Worcester, MA
*Groundwork Elizabeth – Elizabeth, NJ
*Montclair State University – Montclair, NJ
*Center for Nonprofit Advancement – Washington, DC
*Groundwork Richmond Virginia – Richmond, VA
*Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Blacksburg, VA
*Eco Ed Impact Corp – Miami, FL
Southwest Economic Solutions – Detroit, MI
Iowa Western Community College – Council Bluffs, IA
*Saint Louis University – St. Louis, MO
*Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas – Wichita, KS
Groundwork Denver – Denver, CO
*NyE Communities Coalition – Pahrump, NV
*Pocatello, City of – Pocatello, ID
*Tribal Solid Waste Advisory Network – Tekoa, WA
*First-time Brownfields Job Training Program grant recipients.
For more information on the selected Brownfields Job Training Grant
recipients, including past grant recipients, please visit EPA’s Grant
Factsheet Tool.
Background
President Biden’s leadership and bipartisan congressional action delivered
the single-largest investment in U.S. brownfields infrastructure ever. The
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) invests more than $1.5 billion through
EPA’s highly successful Brownfields Program and the funding from this grant
cycle comes from this historic investment. This budget boost gives EPA the
ability to fund more communities, states, and Tribal Nations. In addition,
these entities have the opportunity to apply for larger grants to build and
enhance their environmental job training curriculums to support job creation
and community revitalization around brownfield sites. Ultimately, this
investment will help trained individuals gain access to jobs created through
brownfields revitalization activities within their communities.
Since 1998, EPA has awarded 430 grants totaling more than $113 million through
Brownfield Job Training Programs. With these grants, more than 23,400
individuals have completed training and over 17,400 individuals have been
placed in careers related to land remediation and environmental health and
safety. Over the last 5 years, the average starting wage for these individuals
is approximately $23 per hour. If your organization is considering applying
for or has a question related to Brownfields Job Training Grants, please
submit a technical assistance request to EPA.
Please see the Types of Brownfields Funding webpage for more. 
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