Brownfields 2024 Job Training Fact Sheet

Brownfields 2024 Job Training Fact Sheet is sponsored by EPA Region 9 Brownfields Team. Provides job training grants to prepare individuals for environmental careers in California.

Brownfields Grant Fact Sheet Search Brownfields and Land Revitalization Kern County Builders Exchange, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Tulare and Kings Counties, CA Grant Recipient Information Name: Kern County Builders Exchange Region: EPA Region 9 Brownfields Team Website: https://www. epa.

gov/brownfields/r9 United States Environmental Protection Agency Land and Emergency Management (5105T) Overview of the EPA Brownfields Program EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, Tribal Nations, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields.

A brownfield site is 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.

The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002, as amended by the Brownfields Utilization, Investment and Local Development Act of 2018, was passed to help states, Tribal Nations, and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfield sites.

Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through five competitive grant programs: Multipurpose Grants, Assessment Grants, Revolving Loan Fund Grants, Cleanup Grants, and Brownfields Job Training Grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

Brownfields Job Training Grant funds are provided to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit and train unemployed and underemployed residents from communities affected by environmental pollution, economic disinvestment, and brownfields and place them in environmental jobs. Since the program was created in 1998, EPA has awarded 414 job training 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. This equates to a cumulative placement rate of approximately 75 percent.

The average starting wage for these jobs is more than $15 an hour. EPA has selected the Kern County Builders Exchange for a Brownfields Job Training Grant. The Kern County Builders Exchange plans to train 300 students and place at least 270 in environmental jobs.

The training program includes up to 236 hours of instruction in 40-Hour HAZWOPER, OSHA 30-Hour, RCRA Hazardous Waste Management, Sampling, Monitoring, and Reporting, Lead and Asbestos, CPR/ First Aid/ AED, Welding, Cutting, and Hot Work, Confined Space Entry, Excavation Competent Person, Powered Industrial Truck Operator, Walking and Work Surfaces, Fall Protection Competent Person, Extreme Temperatures (Heat Illness), Silica and Dust Control, Valley Fever Awareness, Protection from Wildfire Smoke, Risk Assessments, Oil and Gas Remediation Processes, Confined Space Entry Tier 11 Rescue, Line Locating, Transportation Load Securement, Functional Ergonomics, Electrical Exposure and Power Lines, Blueprint Reading, Threatened and Endangered Species, H2S in Oil and Gas Production, Communicable Disease Prevention, and Emissions and Air Permitting.

Students who complete the training will earn up to 10 state and six federal certifications. The Kern County Builders Exchange is targeting students within Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Tulare, and Kings Counties, specifically unemployed, underemployed, economically underserved, minority, veterans, and at-risk young adults.

Key partners include the Bakersfield City Planning Department, Kern County Planning Department, Kern Economic Development Foundation, Kern High School District's Career Technical Education Center, Kern Community College District, Kern Patriot Partnership, Kern Economic Development Corporation, California Legacy Well Services, Brown's Construction Service, Inc., and Truitt Oilfield Maintenance Corporation.

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www. epa. gov/brownfields).

The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant application; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of the information. The cooperative agreement is negotiated after the selection announcement. Therefore, the funding amount and activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.

Please email comments on this website to: Brownfields-Web-Comments@epamail. epa. gov