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EPA Announces $2 Million in Brownfields Job Training Grants

Release Date: 12/22/2005
Contact Information:

Contact: Kerry Humphrey or Dale Kemery at 202-564-4355 /
[email protected], [email protected]


(Washington, D.C.-12/22/05) The Environmental Protection Agency today announced the selection of 12 communities to share a total of $2 million in brownfields job training grants. Grants of up to $200,000 each will go to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, community colleges, tribes, state and local governments.

This new round of Brownfields Job Training Grants will teach environmental-cleanup job skills to individuals living in low income areas near brownfields sites in 11 states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Montana, and Washington)

Since 1998, EPA has awarded over $20 million in brownfields job training funds, more than 2,600 people have completed training programs, and more than 1,600 have obtained employment in the environmental field, earning an average wage of $13 per hour.

"These grants focus on achieving results by training people for real jobs that help restore their neighborhoods," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "The brownfields job training program builds new partnerships for environmental progress that will go a long way in protecting public health and building stronger communities."

The Brownfields Job Training Program is designed to provide residents in brownfields-affected communities an opportunity to obtain employment in the environmental field, ensuring that the economic benefits derived from brownfields redevelopment remain in the affected communities.

EPA's Brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Since the beginning of the Brownfields Program, EPA has awarded more than 850 assessment grants totaling approximately $220 million, over 200 revolving loan fund grants totaling more than $183 million, and more than 230 cleanup grants totaling approximately $42 million. EPA's brownfields assistance has attracted more than $7.2 billion in private investment and helped attract more than 34,000 jobs.

The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 authorizes up to $250 million in funds annually for brownfields grants. Under the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2001, EPA is authorized to fund training programs that facilitate assessment, cleanup or preparation of brownfield sites throughout the United States. Applicants for a job training program grant must be located in or near a community that currently receives, or has received, financial assistance from EPA for Brownfields-related activities.

For a list of recipients and more information, go to: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/jt1205/jt1205.htm