December 17, 2024

Contact Information

Jo Kittrell (kittrell.joanne@epa.gov)

BOSTON (Dec. 17, 2024) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the City of Worcester has been selected to receive a $499,000 grant to help recruit, train, and place workers in community revitalization and cleanup projects at brownfield sites in the Worcester area. The Brownfields Job Training Program grants is funded by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will advance economic opportunity and environmental justice.

The City of Worcester plans to train 80 students and they have a strong track record of placing the majority of their graduates in environmental jobs. The training program includes 83 hours of instructional training. Students who complete the training will earn up to two state and five federal certifications. The City of Worcester is targeting students within its six urban core Opportunity Zone Census Tracts, which are identified as disadvantaged Justice40 communities.

Key partners include the Central Massachusetts Region Planning Commission, the City of Worcester Department of Public Works and Parks, MassHire Central Region Career Centers, Resource Options, Inc., We Fix It Renovate, Inc., the Worcester Business Development Corporation, the Worcester Housing Authority, and the Worcester Jobs Fund.

"Brownfields Job Training grants change lives and improve communities that have been overburdened by contaminated properties for far too long," said EPA New England Regional Administrator David Cash. "Thanks to President Biden's Investing in America agenda, EPA is helping to create good-paying jobs for low income, unemployed, and under-employed residents who are helping make their communities cleaner, healthier and stronger."

"With this grant, Worcester will be able to train students to clean up and revitalize local brownfield sites," said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. "It's a win-win: the federal government is investing in our workforce with life-long skills while working to advance environmental justice."

"We celebrate securing half a million dollars for Worcester to invest in the next generation of environmental remediation professionals, providing them with the tools and education to turn eyesores into assets. This new workforce will build wealth and create economic opportunity in their community and throughout our region," said U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, "After all, there is no one more qualified to carry out this important work of fixing brownfields than the very community members who have been directly affected by their existence."

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 & 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. This includes certifications in:

Lead and asbestos abatement;

Hazardous waste operations and emergency response;

Mold remediation;

Environmental sampling and analysis; and

Other 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.