Biden-Harris Administration Announces $500,000 Brownfields Job Training Grant to the Center for Nonprofit Advancement in Washington D.C. under Investing in America Agenda
PHILADELPHIA (Dec.18, 2024) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the Center for Nonprofit Advancement in Washington D.C. has been selected to receive a $500,000 grant to help recruit, train, and place workers in community revitalization and cleanup projects at brownfield sites in the District of Columbia.
“Thanks to President Biden’s unwavering commitment to historically overburdened communities, EPA is investing $1.4 million in Brownfields Job Training grants in the Mid-Atlantic Region,” said Adam Ortiz, EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator. “These grants are changing lives and improving communities, as well as making a generational impact.”
The Center for Nonprofit Advancement plans to train 100 students and place 75 in environmental jobs. Students who complete the training will earn up eight federal certifications.
“This grant will enable the Center for Nonprofit Advancement (the Center)/Atmos Foundation team to deepen our engagement with the community, creating a meaningful environmental workforce, and fostering partnerships to tackle environmental challenges together in the Washington DC metro area,” said Glen O’Gilvie, CEO of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. “We are deeply grateful for this opportunity and excited to embark on this journey towards a more sustainable world, hand in hand with our community.”
Brownfields Job Training Program grants are funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to advance economic opportunity and environmental justice in underserved communities across the U.S.
EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Program provides funding to help organizations develop a skilled workforce in communities where brownfield sites are being assessed, cleaned up and prepared for reuse.
Many of the students completing EPA funded job training programs live in areas that are adversely impacted by environmental stressors. Individuals graduate from the program with a variety of certifications that improve their marketability and help many of them build long-term environmental careers. These include certifications in:
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Lead and asbestos abatement;
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Hazardous waste and emergency response operations;
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Mold remediation;
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Environmental sampling and analysis; and
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Environmental health and safety training.
For more information on the selected Brownfields Job Training grant recipients, including past grant recipients, please visit EPA’s Grant Factsheet Tool.
Background:
President Biden’s leadership and bipartisan congressional action delivered the single-largest investment in U.S. brownfields infrastructure ever. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) invests more than $1.5 billion through EPA’s highly successful Brownfields Program and the funding from this grant cycle comes from this historic investment. This budget boost gives EPA the ability to fund more communities, states, and Tribal Nations. In addition, these entities have the opportunity to apply for larger grants to build and enhance their environmental job training curriculums to support job creation and community revitalization around brownfield sites. Ultimately, this investment will help trained individuals gain access to jobs created through brownfields revitalization activities within their communities.
Since 1998, EPA has awarded 430 grants totaling more than $113 million through Brownfield Job Training Programs. With these grants, more than 23,400 individuals have completed training and over 17,400 individuals have been placed in careers related to land remediation and environmental health and safety. Over the last 5 years, the average starting wage for these individuals is approximately $23 per hour. If your organization is considering applying for or has a question related to Brownfields Job Training Grants, submit a technical assistance request to EPA at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/forms/brownfields-job-training-program-technical-assistance-inquiry-form.
For more information on this and other types of Brownfields Grants, please visit https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-funding.