Assistance program
Brownfields Job Training Cooperative Agreements
$44.7 Million committed in FY2018–FY2026
- Agency
- Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency
- Assistance
- Cooperative Agreements
- CFDA number
- 66.815
- What it does
- Brownfield sites are real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Job Training Grants allow nonprofits, local governments, and other eligible organizations to provide environmental training for residents impacted by brownfield sites in their communities. Brownfields Job Training Coalition grants are designed for one “lead†eligible entity to partner with one or more eligible entities that do not have the capacity to apply for and manage their own EPA cooperative agreement and otherwise would not have access to Brownfields Grant resources. An eligible entity (either as an individual applicant or as the lead coalition member) may request up to $500,000 for up to a 5-year performance period). These grants allow eligible entities to recruit, train, and place unemployed and underemployed residents of areas affected by the presence of brownfield sites. Grant recipients can allocate up to 40% of the total award for participant support costs related to transportation for trainees, childcare, and compensation for trainees to participate in the training. A critical part of the Brownfields Job Training program is to further environmental justice by ensuring that all residents living in communities historically affected by economic disinvestment, health disparities, and disproportionate and adverse exposures to environmental contamination, which may include low-income, minority, Tribal and Indigenous communities, have an opportunity to reap the benefits of revitalization and environmental cleanup. This program builds strong partnerships and local capacity to assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfield sites. Job Training Grants may be funded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Recipients will be required to report program accomplishments for IIJA-funded activities in the Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment, Exchange System (ACRES) and collected data will be used to demonstrate successful implementation of the program. EPA intends to use this grant opportunity to support the creation of good-paying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union and the incorporation of strong labor standards and workforce programs, in particular Registered Apprenticeship Programs, pre-apprenticeship programs (that have a direct connection to a Registered Apprenticeship Program), Labor-Management Partnerships, partnerships with community colleges, Local Hire agreements in project planning stages to the extent authorized by 2 CFR § 200.319, and program delivery and similar proven workforce training programs.