January–March 2026 Newsletter
Job Training and Cleaner Communities
EPA is making progress on multiple fronts to support workforce development, job growth, and cleanup efforts across the region.
In February, the agency announced the selection of 11 California organizations and northern Nevada’s Nevadaworks to receive Brownfields Job Training grants. This funding will help the organizations recruit, train, and place workers in jobs supporting community revitalization and cleanup projects at contaminated sites. Participants in these projects will earn certifications in lead and asbestos abatement, hazardous waste operations and emergency response, mold remediation, environmental sampling and analysis, and environmental health and safety training.
In addition to the Brownfields Job Training grants, EPA recently joined local and state partners to graduate 25 San Francisco residents from the Superfund Job Training Initiative at Hunters Point. The graduates completed a rigorous, three-week long hazardous materials management training, which earned them the necessary certification for entry-level jobs in the environmental cleanup industry, including at the Hunters Point Superfund site.
Funding from the Brownfields and Superfund job training programs helps grow local economies and supports efforts to clean up contaminated sites and return properties to productive use.
- Instagram: Hunters Point Superfund Job Training Graduation
- Hunters Point Environmental Workforce and Job Training Program
- Hunters Point Superfund Job Training Video
- EPA’s Brownfields Funding
Cleaning Up Moss Landing
Since the January 2025 fire at the Vistra Energy Battery Power Plant in Moss Landing in California, EPA has been on-site providing technical assistance in the planning and preparation for battery removal. EPA is working to ensure that Vistra safely removes and disposes of batteries impacted by the fire. EPA’s battery removal operation at Moss Landing is the largest lithium-ion battery cleanup in the Agency’s history. Work crews have de-energized and transported more than 23,000 batteries out-of-state to EPA-approved facilities for recycling.
- Instagram: Moss Landing Battery Transport and Disposal (Video)
- Lookout Santa Cruz: Moss Landing Cleanup, Building Demolition - Mid-2026
- EPA's Response to the Moss Landing Vistra Battery Fire
Enforcement Update
Protecting Drinking Water
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has agreed to comprehensively inspect nearly 100 drinking water reservoirs and storage tanks and clean more than 50 of them as part of a consent order with EPA. The consent order was issued to address violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act. An EPA inspection of LADWP’s reservoirs and storage tanks identified maintenance issues, including unprotected openings and inconsistent cleaning and inspection schedules. If left unaddressed these deficiencies could pose a risk for contamination. LADWP operates the second largest water system in the country, serving approximately 3.8 million customers in the greater Los Angeles area.
- CBS News: EPA Orders LADWP to Inspect Reservoirs