Brownfields Success Stories

The Brownfields Job Training Pilot Program: Fulfilling the Commitment to Environmental Justice

EPA defines environmental justice as "fair treatment for people of all races, cultures, and incomes, regarding the development of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." The Agency's Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilot program is EPA's latest effort in its dual commitment to environmental justice and brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Job Training Pilots, which are funded at up to $200,000 each over two years, foster workforce development through environmental training while ensuring that trainees are recruited from disadvantaged communities. By providing quality worker training, this initiative allows local residents an opportunity to qualify for jobs created as a result of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment efforts.

Job Training Pilots are administered through local job training and educational organizations. Many of these organizations also use their own funding or leverage additional resources to offer life skills training and professional development services for enrollees. The training curricula range from three weeks to a year, and cover such diverse areas as environmental assessment, cleanup methods, innovative treatment technologies, environmental lab technologies, and environmental law, regulations and policy. To date, more than 550 participants have graduated, and more than 380 of the programs' graduates have found employment in the environmental field--a placement rate of 69 percent--with an average salary of more than $13 per hour. For more information on EPA's Brownfields Job Training Development and Demonstration Pilot program, contact Myra Blakely at (202) 260-4527.