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Salt Lake Community College receives $200,000 EPA job training grant

Release Date: 5/10/2005
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Denver -- Revitalization efforts in Salt Lake City were given a big boost today as EPA awarded a $200,000 Brownfields job training grant to Salt Lake Community College.

Salt Lake City is among communities in 44 states that will share more than $75 million in EPA Brownfields grants to help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, transforming them from eyesores into community assets.

Salt Lake Community College's job training grant will train 30 students, place up to 22 students in environmental jobs and track graduates for one year. The college will offer three different training tracks, each consisting of approximately 250 hours of instruction. The core curriculum will include HAZWOPER, job safety, and innovative and alternative treatment technologies training. This will be followed by specialized training tailored to pre-apprentice, environmental technology and hazardous waste specialist tracks. Students will be recruited through the college’s partnerships with the Utah Division of Rehabilitation, the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the Salt Lake County Youth Employability program and a variety of community and faith-based organizations. The Skills Center Career Resources personnel will assist students in job searches and placement.

The $200,000 grant complements the Gateway District Revitalization program, a comprehensive effort to break down barriers between the east and west sides of Salt Lake City by revitalizing this blighted industrial district. This 650-acre district was once plagued by environmental contamination and poor accessibility resulting in an abundance of abandoned and underused railway yards, industrial sites and former gas stations. While significant progress has been made at Gateway, several blighted sites with significant reuse potential remain. Graduates of this job training program will be well-positioned to play an active role in returning these properties to productive use.

"The grants announced today give local partnerships the ability to address environmental issues at sites that are being transformed into vital assets," said EPA Assistant Regional Administrator Max Dodson. "In addition to improving the environment, they are investments in the future that help communities achieve important economic redevelopment and social goals."

Brownfields are sites where potentially harmful contaminants may be impeding revitalization. EPA's Brownfields program promotes redevelopment of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Since its inception in 1995, the program has awarded 709 assessment grants totaling over $190 million, 189 revolving loan fund grants for cleanup worth more than $165 million, and $26.8 million for 150 direct cleanup grants. Brownfields job training grants bring together community groups, job training organizations, educators, labor groups, investors, lenders, developers, and others to provide environmental employment and training for residents in communities impacted by brownfields. More than 60 percent of people completing Brownfields training programs have landed jobs in the environmental field.

In addition to grants being announced today, participants in the Brownfields program gain access to the expertise and resources from more than 20 federal agencies. Nationwide, there are four categories of grants being awarded with 218 applicants, including three tribal nations, selected to receive 302 grants totaling $75.9 million. These include:
• 172 assessment grants, worth $33.6 million, to assess and plan for eventual cleanup at one or more brownfield sites;
• 106 cleanup grants, totaling $19.3 million, for recipients to clean up brownfield sites they own;
• 13 revolving loan fund grants, totaling $20.8 million, for communities to use to make low-interest loans for the cleanup of brownfield sites, and
• 11 job-training grants, valued at $2.2 million, for environmental training of people who live in brownfield communities.

Brownfields projects have converted industrial waterfronts to river-front parks, landfills to golf courses, rail corridors to recreational trails, and gas station sites to housing. EPA's Brownfields assistance has led to more than $7 billion in public and private investment in cleanup and redevelopment, helped create more than 31,000 jobs, and resulted in the assessment of more than 5,100 properties.

For detailed fact sheets on the individual grant recipients, visit: https://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/archive/pilot_arch.htm
For more information on the Brownfields program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
EPA is cosponsoring a National Brownfields Conference in Denver in November of 2005. For more information: http://www.brownfields2005.org/en/index.aspx