Biden-Harris Administration Announces $500,000 to Recruit and Train Kentucky Workers for Community Revitalization and Cleanup Projects as Part of Investing in America Agenda
Latest funding for EPA’s Brownfield Job Training Grants is supported by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and will boost workforce training in underserved and overburdened communities
LOUISVILLE, KY (December 8, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Young Adult Development in Action, Inc., dba Youth Build Louisville in Louisville, KY as the recipient of approximately $500,000 for environmental job training programs as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The grants through EPA’s Brownfields Jobs Training Program will help recruit, train, and place workers for community revitalization and cleanup projects at brownfield sites across America.
Young Adult Development in Action, Inc., dba Youth Build Louisville will provide the following training: 40-hour HAZWOPER (advanced), 8-hour HAZWOPER Supervisor (advanced), Lead Renovation Training (advanced), Asbestos Abatement Worker (initial), CPR/First Aid (advanced), CDL (advanced), and DOT Hazardous Materials (advanced).
The target area for this grant is west Louisville, KY. This community is primarily low income, minority, and historically affected by economic disinvestment, health disparities, and disproportionate and adverse exposures to environmental contamination.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is having a powerful, real-world impact on the ground, creating good-paying jobs and revitalizing communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has supercharged our Brownfields program, enabling EPA to invest in the next generation of environmental workers to take on the much-needed work of cleaning up legacy pollution in communities across America.”
"Brownfields and other contaminated properties often are located in environmental justice communities where residents are disproportionately impacted, thus making these awards especially critical," said Acting Region 4 Administrator Jeaneanne Gettle. “Investing in communities to make them cleaner, healthier, stronger, and more economically competitive is one of our most important objectives.”
“Our community needs this $500,000 grant to invest in the next generation of our workforce,” said Rep. McGarvey. “Louisville’s underserved communities have been overlooked for far too long, and this funding will boost workforce development in the areas where we need it most. I’m grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for this crucial investment in our community, and I look forward to working with federal, state, and local partners to continue addressing our community’s most pressing issues.”
These grants will provide 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 and many are from historically underserved neighborhoods or reside in the areas that are affected by environmental justice issues.
Job training and workforce development are an important part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advance economic opportunities and address environmental justice issues in underserved communities. All of the FY24 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 which aims to deliver at least 40% of the benefits of certain government investments to underserved and overburdened communities.
Under the Brownfields Jobs Training Program, individuals typically graduate 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 have delivered the single-largest investment ever made in U.S. brownfields infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests more than $1.5 billion through EPA’s highly successful Brownfields Program, which is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by the legacy pollution at brownfield sites. Today’s funding for Brownfields Jobs Training grants comes from this historic investment, which is allowing more communities, states, and Tribes to access larger grants to build and enhance the environmental curriculum in job training programs to support job creation and community revitalization at brownfield sites. Ultimately, this investment will help trained individuals access jobs created through brownfields revitalization activities within their communities.
Since 1998, EPA has announced 414 grants totaling over $100.5 million through Brownfield Job Training Programs. With these grants, more than 21,500 individuals have completed training and over 16,370 individuals have been placed in careers related to land remediation and environmental health and safety. The average starting wage for these individuals is over $15 an hour.
For more information on this, and other types of Brownfields Grants, please visit EPA’s Brownfields webpage.
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