EPA Announces Over $475K in Brownfields Job Training Grant to Iowa Western Community College

EPA Announces Over $475K in Brownfields Job Training Grant to Iowa Western Community College

December 16, 2024

LENEXA, KAN. (DEC. 16, 2024) - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Iowa Western Community College has been selected to receive a $478,474 grant to help recruit, train, and place workers in community revitalization and cleanup projects at brownfield sites in Council Bluffs, Iowa, North Omaha, Nebraska, and the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan statistical area.

The Brownfields Job Training Program Grants are funded by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will advance economic opportunity and environmental justice.

The college plans to train 96 students and place 69 in environmental jobs. Students who complete the training will earn up to five federal certifications. The training program includes instructional training in areas such as 40-Hour HAZWOPER; Asbestos Abatement Worker; OSHA Lead Awareness; OSHA 10-Hour General Industry; OSHA Hazard Communication; General Construction and Deconstruction; and more.

"Today's announcement is a key step in revitalizing communities and transforming underutilized Midwestern spaces," said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. "We congratulate the selected organizations and eagerly look forward to working together to develop a skilled workforce in environmental jobs."

EPA's Brownfields Job Training Program provides funding to organizations that are working to create a skilled workforce in communities where assessment, cleanup, and preparation of brownfield sites for reuse activities are taking place. Individuals completing a job training program funded by EPA often overcome a variety of barriers to employment. Many are from historically underserved neighborhoods or reside in the areas that are affected by environmental justice issues.

All of the FY25 Brownfields Job Training Program applications selected have proposed to work in areas that include disadvantaged communities, as defined by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, delivering on President Biden's Justice40 Initiative to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

Individuals typically graduate from the program with a variety of certifications that improve their marketability and help ensure that employment opportunities are not just temporary contractual work, but long-term environmental careers.

For more information on the selected Brownfields Job Training Grant recipients, including past grant recipients, please visit EPA's Brownfields Grant Fact Sheet Search 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 over $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 over $113 million through Brownfields Job Training Programs. With these grants, over 23,400 individuals have completed training and over 17,400 have been placed in careers related to land remediation and environmental health and safety. Over the last five 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 requestto EPA.

Learn more about the types of Brownfields funding.

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