Brownfields Job Training and Development
Demonstration Pilot Fact Sheet

EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $250,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.

BACKGROUND EPA has selected Western Iowa Tech Community College for a Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot. The College’s assessment pilot partner is Sioux City. Metropolitan Sioux City (population 106,000) encompasses a state-designated Enterprise Zone, which includes a large minority population. Eleven percent of Enterprise Zone residents are living below the poverty rate. Sioux City’s per capita income is in the bottom half of the largest 350 cities in the United States. The Job Training Pilot will recruit residents of the state Enterprise Zone. Changes in the meat packing industry over the past 35 years have left a legacy of abandoned warehouses, factories, and other commercial buildings within the Enterprise Zone. Many of the properties contain hazardous materials that will need to be assessed and cleaned up before the properties can be reused. In addition, lead-based paint continues to be a health threat to residents. Environmental companies, particularly those working on projects stimulated by the Sioux City Brownfields Assessment Pilot, are interested in hiring local residents trained as environmental technicians. No other environmental technician training is offered in the region.

PILOT SNAPSHOT Sioux City, IA Date of Announcement: December 2000 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot will train 50 students as environmental technicians. Students will be recruited from the state Enterprise Zone in Sioux City, which has suffered economic disinvestment as a result of changes in the meat packing industry over the past 35 years.

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

Western Iowa Tech Community College plans to train 50 participants, achieve a 75% job placement rate, and support career placement of graduates for one year after the training is completed. Participants will be recruited from the state Enterprise Zone. The 222-hour Pilot training program will consist of HAZWOPER training, OSHA general construction, lead abatement worker, introduction to environmental technology, ecosystem restoration and innovative techniques, and FastTrac Entrepreneurship Program (40-hour optional course), including training in the use of innovative assessment and remediation technologies.

The training efforts of Western Iowa Tech Community College will be supported by organizations such as Goodwill Industries, Siouxland Community Health Center, Woodbury County Community Action Agency, Sioux City American Indian Center, City of Sioux City, and Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. An advisory committee consisting of project partners has been formed to coordinate Pilot activities.

ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting outreach to recruit residents of the state Enterprise Zone;
• Conducting training for entry-level positions as brownfields technicians, including courses in the use of innovative assessment and cleanup technologies; and
• Supporting career placement of students for one year after the job training is completed.

CONTACTS

Western Iowa Tech Community College
(712) 274-6400, ext. 1258

Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 7
(913) 551-7003

Visit the EPA Region 7 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/brownfields/index.htm

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

For further information, including specific Pilot contacts, additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site.