From epa.gov

Release date: 04/14/2010

Contact Information: Beth Totman (212) 637-3662, totman.elizabeth@epa.gov

(New York, NY) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Research Foundation of the State University of New York in Buffalo and the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties, New York have each been selected to receive $200,000 in federal grant funds to train local community members in environmental job skills. The two $200,000 job training grants are being awarded under EPA’s brownfields program. Brownfields are abandoned or underused industrial or commercial sites at which redevelopment or expansion is hampered by environmental contamination. Both organizations will recruit students from among unemployed and underemployed residents in local areas, and provide them with the skills they need to find environmental jobs cleaning up contaminated sites in their communities.

“Brownfields job training grants provide resources to help people in economically struggling communities acquire the skills they need to land jobs performing environmental cleanups,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck. “The appeal of the brownfields job training program is that it provides essential training for people seeking employment, and opportunities to use the new skills to improve communities.”

In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was adopted by Congress to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfields sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. EPA’s Brownfields Program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

Since 1998, EPA has awarded more than $33 million in brownfields job training funds. The program prepares workers for employment and ensures that the economic benefits derived from brownfields redevelopment remain in the affected communities. As of February 2010, more than 5,300 individuals have been trained through the Brownfields Job Training Grant Program, and 3,400 have been placed in full-time employment in the environmental field with an average starting hourly wage of $14.65.

Organizations selected to receive brownfields job training grants are:

The Research Foundation of the State University of New York, Buffalo, NY
$200,000

The foundation plans to train students in skills including, asbestos abatement work and construction safety, as well as environmental sampling, remediation technology and an overview of brownfields. Students will be recruited from the cities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Lackawanna and Niagara County. The region has several contaminated facilities and properties that need to be cleaned up.

Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties, NY
$200,000

The Board plans to train students in health and safety training, lead and asbestos abatement, sustainable construction, fork lift operator training, and energy efficiency training. The program will recruit students from the city of Utica to participate in this job training. There are 11 brownfields in the assessment or cleanup phase within one mile of the city’s urban center, and the need for trained workers trained with environmental skills is crucial to restoring the city.

For more information on EPA’s Brownfields program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields/.

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From epa.gov

Release date: 04/13/2010

Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 244-1815, Cell (213) 798-2804, arcaute.francisco@epa.gov
(4/13/10) SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today advanced its environmental justice program in National City, Calif., with the distribution of a $1 million Brownfields revolving loan to National City.

EPA also awarded a $300,000 Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant to the Environmental Health Coalition for work in Barrio Logan and National City, and provided resources to assist with the Westside Affordable Housing Transit Oriented Development in National City.

In addition to providing funds, EPA is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation – via the Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities – in helping National City meet its sustainability goals to generate affordable housing and transportation while simultaneously protecting the environment, promoting equitable development, and addressing the challenges of climate change.

“We are very excited to provide this $1.3 million in grants to help improve the lives and environmental health of National City’s residents,” said Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator for EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. “EPA is committed to continuing our work with this overburdened yet vibrant community to reduce exposure to pollution and promote greener, healthier development.”

“Unjust land use plans have allowed pollution to burden the health of our communities for too long,” said Diane Takvorian, Executive Director of Environmental Health Coalition. “We applaud EPA’s commitment to environmental justice and will use these funds to create community plans that lead to cleaner, healthier neighborhoods.”

“National City is an older city with an old industrial base that presents a myriad of challenges,” said Mayor Ron Morrison. “EPA has been a long time strong partner in National City’s continuing effort to revitalize our community. We are gratified and excited about having this strong support as well as the depth of EPA’s experience, resources and knowledge both in Brownfields redevelopment and Smart Growth principles to assist with challenging projects such as the Transit Oriented Development for Westside.”

The funds will be distributed as follows:

· $1 million National City Brownfields revolving loan

EPA selected National City for a 2009 Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grant, including $800,000 for hazardous substances and $200,000 for petroleum. These funds will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which National City will provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with petroleum and hazardous substances.

EPA also awarded a $200,000 Brownfields Assessment grant to National City in 2007 to conduct Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments on properties located within the Westside Neighborhood; a similar Assessment Grant for the Harbor District was awarded in 2003. The EPA Brownfields has provided approximately $1.4 million in direct funds and $75,000 in contract support to assist National City in developing green building standards and establishing a viable reuse plan for a site in the Harbor District.

· $300,000 CARE grant to the Environmental Health Coalition

As part of EPA’s CARE program, the agency awarded a two year, $300,000 grant to the Environmental Health Coalition to address port and stationary source emissions in Barrio Logan and National City. The Environmental Health Coalition builds grassroots campaigns that confront the consequences of toxic pollution, discriminatory land use, and unsustainable energy policies. Through leader development, organizing and advocacy, EHC improves the health of children, families, neighborhoods and the natural environment.

· EPA- HUD-DOT to provide resources to Westside Affordable Housing Transit Oriented Development

National City requested assistance in creating and implementing a sustainability plan and financial strategy for a 14-acre brownfield seen as a catalyst for neighborhood change. The sustainability plan will assist National City in leveraging resources to clean up the site, form a link to a nearby light rail station, create an open space, improve the tidal creek, and create a 201-unit affordable housing project.

EPA, with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation, will assist National City in developing a plan to address the former brownfield focusing on green building and energy-efficient redevelopment plans that incorporate stormwater and flood control management.

EPA’s Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) is a competitive grant program that offers an innovative way for a community to organize and take action to reduce toxic pollution in its local environment. For more information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/care/

Region 9’s Brownfields Program works to clean up and redevelop of potentially contaminated lands in the Pacific Southwest region, making it easier for such lands to become vital, functioning parts of their communities. For more information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region09/brownfields/

Through the Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, EPA is working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation to ensure ensuring that housing and transportation goals are met while simultaneously protecting the environment, promoting equitable development, and helping to address the challenges of climate change. For more information on the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/partnership

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From epa.gov

Release date: 04/10/2010

Contact Information: Latisha Petteway, petteway.latisha@epa.gov, 202-564-3191, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – Today in New Orleans, La., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced that EPA is awarding more than $2 million in job training grants for environmental cleanups in communities across the country. The agency’s Brownfields Job Training Program helps train people for jobs in the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields properties, including abandoned gas stations, old textile mills, closed smelters, and other abandoned industrial and commercial properties. These investments target under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods – places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

“By recruiting, training and employing local residents to clean up the community, we get the best of both worlds: new jobs and a cleaner community,” said EPA Administrator Jackson. “Transforming abandoned and contaminated sites sets the stage for bustling business centers, new parks and other developments. It shows that the right thing to do for the environment is the right thing to do for the economy.”

Twelve governmental entities and non-profit organizations in 10 states are receiving up to $200,000 each to train people in the cleanup of these abandoned and possibly polluted properties, while also providing training in other environmental skills, such as green building design, energy efficiency, weatherization, solar installation, green construction, and native plant revegetation. In New Orleans, Administrator Jackson presented the award to Limitless Vistas, Inc., a training program that teaches inner-city youth job skills in environmental assessment and improvement, as well as the value of community service. Graduates are placed in environmental work-related jobs and their success is tracked for one year. Cleaning up our communities is one of EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s priorities, leading not only to health and environmental benefits but also economic development.

The brownfields job training grants will help recruit, train, and employ residents living near brownfields sites in California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Washington.

Since 1998, EPA has awarded more than $33 million in brownfields job training funds. The program prepares workers for employment in the new green economy, and ensures that the economic benefits derived from brownfields redevelopment remain in the affected communities. As of February 2010, more than 5,300 individuals have been trained through the Brownfields Job Training Grant Program, and 3,400 have been placed in full-time employment in the environmental field with an average starting hourly wage of $14.65.

In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed. The brownfields law expanded the definition of what is considered a brownfield, so communities may now focus on mine-scarred lands, sites contaminated by petroleum, or sites contaminated as a result of the manufacturing and distribution of illegal drugs (e.g. meth labs). EPA’s Brownfields Program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

As part of Administrator Jackson’s commitment to this program, the 2011 proposed budget includes an increase of $215 million for brownfields with increases for planning, cleanup, job training and redevelopment.

More information on brownfields job training grants: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm

More information on EPA’s Brownfields Program: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Brownfields success stories: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm

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From epa.gov

Release date: 04/08/2010

Contact Information: Cathy Milbourn milbourn.cathy@epa.gov 202-564-7849 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a month-long online discussion to expand the conversation on acid rain. Acid rain is a serious environmental problem that affects large parts of the United States and is particularly damaging to lakes, streams, and forests and the plants and animals that live in these ecosystems. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the pollutants that form acid rain, can cause serious respiratory illnesses and premature death.

Starting today, EPA is posting daily blogs to inform and engage the public in an interactive Web discussion. Topics will include an overview of acid rain and its effects, a description of the Acid Rain Program’s cap and trade policy, an explanation of how EPA monitors power plant emissions, and how air and water quality monitoring data are used to measure environmental improvements.

EPA established the Acid Rain Program 20 years ago under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and it requires major emission reductions of sulfur dioxide SO2 and nitrogen oxide NOx from the electric power industry. The program sets a permanent cap on the total amount of SO2 that may be emitted by electric generating units in the United States, and includes provisions for trading and banking allowances. Since the first year of the program in 1995, SO2 and NOx emissions have each been cut by more than 60 percent.

For the kickoff Greenversations blog: http://blog.epa.gov/blog/

For the rest of the blog series: http://blog.epa.gov/acidrain/

To follow the series on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/EPAairmarkets and www.twitter.com/EPAairmarkets

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