Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet

Tucson, AZ

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 City of Tucson for a job training grant. The city plans to train 40 students, place 34 in environmental jobs, and track students for 18 months. Pima County Community College and the Southern Arizona Environmental Management Society will serve as the primary trainers. The 208-hour training program will include a 40-hour HAZWOPER certification course, 10 hours of general industry training, and courses in media sampling, environmental site assessment, environmental compliance, lead and asbestos assessment training, and innovative technologies. In addition, each student will be paired with a mentor from the Southern Arizona Environmental Management Society. Students will be recruited from the city's federally designated Empowerment Zone and the Westside Coalition Weed & Seed program. The city and its partners, Pima County Community College and the Southern Arizona Environmental Management Society, will assist in placing program graduates with private and public sector employers.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The City of Tucson was selected to receive a job training grant. The area targeted by this grant lies within a federally designated Empowerment Zone and the Westside Coalition Weed & Seed district. Of the approximately 48,000 Empowerment Zone residents, 60 percent are minority, 70 percent are low-income, and 15 percent are unemployed. The median family income in the Empowerment Zone is 40 percent lower than that of the surrounding areas. Of the approximately 12,000 Weed & Seed area residents, 76 percent are Hispanic/Latino, 70 percent are low-income, and 12 percent are unemployed. The target area contains numerous brownfield sites, including former gas stations, automotive repair facilities, abandoned warehouses, railway yards, and vacant inner city structures. Furthermore, the city has four active EPA-funded assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund grants within the proposed job training area. Local employers have indicated a willingness to hire skilled field staff to help return brownfields to productive use.

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 9 Brownfields Team
415-972-3143 or 415-972-3270
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

Grant Recipient: Tucson, AZ
520-791-5414

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