News Releases from Region 04

EPA Selects Florida State College at Jacksonville, Fla. for Job Training Grant

ATLANTA – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Florida State College at Jacksonville, Fla, will receive a $198,790 Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grant to help low-income residents learn the skills needed to secure employment in the environmental field.

Florida State College at Jacksonville plans to recruit, train, and place unemployed and underemployed residents of Health Zone 1 in environmental careers with skills needed to safely conduct remediation work at solid and hazardous waste-contaminated sites, as well as appropriate training in wastewater management and chemical safety. In addition, emergency response and maritime courses will be offered.

“I am pleased that we can help residents in this community develop new skills that will lead to careers in the environmental field,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. 

“This grant award is a win-win for our community, as it trains unemployed and underemployed area residents for meaningful well-paying jobs that will have a lasting impact on our community by helping to improve our environment,” said U.S. Rep. Al Lawson (FL-5).  Florida State College at Jacksonville is well suited to perform this important work.  I look forward to working them on this important project.”

For over two decades, EPA’s EWDJT program has helped put people to work by building a skilled workforce across the country. The program awards competitive grants to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train and place unemployed and underemployed individuals.  Individuals completing the training have often overcome a variety of barriers to employment. Many are from low-income neighborhoods. The training programs also serve dislocated workers who have lost their jobs as a result of manufacturing plant closures, as well as, minorities, tribal members, transitioning veterans, ex-offenders and other individuals who may have faced barriers to employment. 

Since 1998, when the EWDJT grant program started, more than 274 grants have been awarded exceeding $57 million. Approximately 16,300 individuals have completed training, and of those, more than 11,900 individuals have been placed in full-time employment earning an average starting wage of over $14 an hour. This equates to a cumulative job placement rate of 73 percent of graduates. 

For more information on EPA’s EWDJT program, please visit: 

https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/environmental-workforce-development-and-job-training-grants

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