Press Release

JOB TRAINING PRESS RELEASE

EPA AWARDS OVER $2 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR BROWNFIELDS
JOBS TRAINING INITIATIVE

Lauren Milone Mical: 202-260-4358

EPA today awarded 11 pilot grants totaling over $2 million under the Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilots. Each pilot recipient will receive up to $200,000 over two years for workforce development activities related to the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields. The 11 job training and development recipients are associated with EPA brownfields assessment pilots and include two cities, two community colleges, one university and six non-profit employment and training organizations. The awardees include: the city of New Bedford, Mass.; Jobs for Youth-Boston, Lynn and Somerville, Mass.; New Jersey Youth Corps, Camden and Newark, N.J.; Impact Services Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.; Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, Fla.; Career Options of Pinellas, Inc., Clearwater, Fla.; Milwaukee Community Service Corps, Milwaukee, Wis.; Metropolitan Community Colleges, Kansas City, Mo.; Texas A&M University, Texas Engineering Extension Service, Dallas, Texas; Oakland Private Industry Council, Oakland, Calif.; and Richmond Employment and Training Department, Richmond, Calif.

Selection of these pilots was on a competitive basis. The goal of the job training pilots is to prepare trainees for employment related to the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields properties. Participation by affected local residents is a key part of EPA's effort to encourage brownfields redevelopment. These job training grants will complement other brownfields pilot efforts. To date, EPA has awarded 228 brownfields assessment pilot grants totaling over $42 million to states, cities, towns, counties and tribes. These grants have leveraged almost $1 billion for redevelopment and created over 2,000 jobs. For more information about this initiative visit EPA's homepage at http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm.