Brownfields 2006 Grant Fact Sheet

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

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

$200,000

EPA has selected the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for a job training grant. The state plans to train 50 students and place 37 in entry-level environmental technician jobs. Graduates will be tracked for one year. The 576-hour training program will be conducted by Mississippi State University. Courses will include HAZWOPER, construction skills, hazardous materials handling, introduction to underground storage tanks, lead and asbestos abatement, refresher courses, and field work. Students will be recruited from among disadvantaged residents of the six coastal counties impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The Mississippi Department of Employment Security, through its existing relationships with numerous environmental contractors, will assist with placing graduates in environmental jobs.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality was selected to receive a job training grant. The focus of this project is the six coastal counties of Mississippi most ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Pearl River, Hancock, George, Harrison, and Jackson Counties have a total population of 446,000. Hurricane Katrina left thousands of residents without homes or a source of income. The state has not yet been able to accurately estimate the percentage of residents in the impacted areas who now are unemployed or living in poverty. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi had identified 200 brownfields in the target area. Many more potential brownfields were created by the hurricane as dry cleaners, gas stations, maintenance shops, and other potentially contaminated sites were completely destroyed. This job training program will enable hard-hit residents to take advantage of jobs created by the assessment and cleanup of brownfields in their communities.

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 4 Brownfields Team
404-562-8660
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

Grant Recipient: Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
601-961-5654

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