We've made some changes to EPA.gov. If the information you are looking for is not here, you may be able to find it on the EPA Web Archive or the January 19, 2017 Web Snapshot.

News Releases from Region 07

EPA Accepting Proposals for Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants

01/04/2017
Contact Information: 
Ashley Murdie (murdie.ashley@epa.gov)
913-551-7785

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EPA seal(Lenexa, Kan., Jan. 4, 2017) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking grant applicants interested in advancing environmental justice by developing job training programs that will provide residents living in areas affected by brownfields and other environmental contaminants with the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field.

Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grants are provided to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to develop programs that train unemployed and under-employed residents of communities impacted by a variety of waste facilities, blighted properties, contaminated sites, and other environmental issues for environmental jobs that contractors may otherwise fill from outside the affected community.

Trainees gain experience for jobs related to cleanup activities including the management, assessment, cleanup, and revitalization of solid and hazardous waste sites, as well as other environmental projects within their community, such as water quality improvement, chemical risk management, and pesticide management efforts.

Funding for each grant recipient may include up to $200,000 over a 3-year period. Applicants must submit proposals electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 24, 2017.

To date, EPA has funded 274 job training grants totaling over $57 million through the job training program. As of November 2016, over 15,300 individuals have completed training, and approximately 11,200 of those graduates obtained employment in the environmental field, earning an average of over $14 an hour as their starting hourly wage. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 73 percent since the program was created in 1998.

Webinars to Assist in Preparing Proposals

To assist applicants with their proposals, EPA will hold two informational webinars for prospective grant applicants. The content of each webinar will be the same. The first webinar will be held on Jan. 10, 2017, at 11:30 a.m. CST, and the second webinar will be held on Jan. 12, 2017, at 1 p.m. CST. To access the webinars live, visit http://epawebconferencing.acms.com/fy17ewdjt/ during the scheduled dates and times. Recordings of both webinars will also be posted to the EPA Brownfields website.

Guidelines and Resources

For information regarding grant guidelines, eligibility, how to apply and additional resources that include checklists, frequently asked questions, and tip sheets, visit EPA’s website.

# # #

Learn more about EPA’s Brownfields Program

Connect with EPA Region 7 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion7

Follow us on Twitter: @EPARegion7