Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

STRIVE/East Harlem Employment Services, Inc., NY

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic development 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. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields 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. The brownfields job training grants provide residents of communities impacted by brownfields with the skills and training needed to effectively gain employment in assessment and cleanup activities associated with brownfield redevelopment and environmental remediation. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

JOB TRAINING GRANT

$194,646

EPA has selected STRIVE/East Harlem Employment Services, Inc., for a job training grant. STRIVE plans to train 80 students, place at least 51 in environmental jobs, and track students for two years. The nine-week training program includes course work in hazardous materials handling, lead and asbestos abatement, and indoor air quality. A training contractor will be obtained through a competitive bid. Students will be recruited from among residents of poor neighborhoods in East Harlem. Placement of students in environmental jobs will be accomplished through STRIVE's existing job development network, which consists of 400 employers, and through relationships created by successful environmental job training grant projects, including the Boston STRIVE and St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corps/Williamsburg Works programs previously funded by EPA.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

STRIVE/East Harlem Employment Services, Inc., was selected to receive a job training grant. The grant will focus on East Harlem (population 110,000), though the training is open to residents of all five boroughs. Vacant and underused properties tend to be located in disadvantaged sections of New York City where a high percentage of households are below the federal poverty level. East Harlem has the highest rate of pediatric asthma hospitalization in the country. The unemployment rate in East Harlem is 16 percent. There are approximately 6,000 vacant or abandoned industrially zoned properties in New York City. Many hazardous waste handlers and brownfields are located in the target area. East Harlem brownfields include former gas stations and abandoned factories, manufacturing plants, and commercial buildings. Demand for environmental technicians is high, and STRIVE already has commitments from environmental employers to hire graduates of the job training program.

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.

EPA Region 2 Brownfields Team
212-637-4314
http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/brownfields/

Grant Recipient: STRIVE/East Harlem Employment Services, Inc., NY
646-335-0812

The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.