In May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced opportunities for brownfields investment grants and for the recipients of environmental training grants. Altogether, 171 communities will receive 264 grants totaling $67 million in brownfields funding to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs. In addition, $3.6 Million in Fiscal Year 2014 will be distributed to 18 grantees for Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) that provide under- and un-employed residents with training for job opportunities in many fields of interest for construction firms.
Brownfields Investment
The FY14 Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants will give communities and businesses a chance to return economic stability to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods through the assessment and clean-up of abandoned industrial and commercial properties.
This year, several projects were selected to address sites identified in their Brownfields Area Wide Planning projects, including Lowell, Mass., which will focus on revitalizing an Industrial Park and Toledo, Ohio, which will clean up an old transmission plant. Other selected projects include future uses such as river walks, a sports park, manufacturing and light industrial use, an eagle sanctuary facility, and a technology corridor. Approximately $23.5 million will go to communities that have been impacted by plant closures. Other selected recipients include tribes and communities in 44 states across the country, and over 50 of the grants are going to HUD-DOT-EPA grant recipient communities.
Environmental Training
The Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grants fund training programs in local nonprofit organizations, community colleges, cities, states, tribes, and counties that provide unemployed and under-employed, including veterans, minority, and predominately low income individuals with the comprehensive skills and certifications needed to enter full-time careers in the environmental field. The funding also supports job placement and recruitment activities.
Graduates obtain employment in fields such as recycling, brownfields assessment and cleanup, wastewater treatment, stormwater management, emergency response, oil spill cleanup, solar installation, and Superfund site remediation. These skills would be helpful for many construction firms, especially if a firm is located near one of the grantees training programs.
The 18 grantees are:
- Alaska Forum
- City of Camden, Ark.
- Cypress Mandela Training Center, Oakland, Calif.
- Hunters Point Family, San Francisco, Calif.
- Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Calif.
- The Workplace, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn.
- Northstar Center for Human Development, Hartford, Conn.
- Community Development Corporation of Tampa, Fla.
- Limitless Vistas, New Orleans, La.
- Civic Works, Baltimore, Md.
- City of Detroit, Mich.
- Mo-Kan Regional Council, St. Joseph, Mo.
- Lewis and Clark County, Mont.
- City of Durham, N.C.
- St. Nicks Alliance, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Energy Coordinating Agency, Philadelphia, Penn.
- Memphis Bioworks, Tenn.
- City of Milwaukee, Wis.
- Program http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
- Success Stories http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm
- Program Accomplishments http://epa.gov/brownfields/overview/bf-monthly-report.html