EPA Selects Nevadaworks to Receive $349,984 for Environmental Career Training
Brownfields Job Training Grant to Boost Northern Nevada Economies and Clean Up Communities
RENO, Nev. – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the selection of Nevadaworks to receive $349,984 in Brownfields Job Training grant funding. This funding will help the organization recruit, train, and place workers for community revitalization and cleanup projects at Brownfield sites. EPA's Brownfields Program helps grow local economies and supports efforts to clean up contaminated sites and return blighted properties to productive use.
“We are thrilled to award this grant to Nevadaworks,” said Michael Martucci, Acting EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “This funding invests in northern Nevada’s local economies, equips trainees with marketable skills to support environmental cleanup efforts, and helps return contaminated sites to safe, productive use while creating pathways to good-paying local jobs.”
Nevadaworks is the workforce development board for northern Nevada. It is partnering with the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, the Walker River Paiute Tribe, the Yerington Paiute Tribe, the Fort McDermitt Paiute, and the Shoshone Tribe to deliver Brownfields Job Training focused on environmental assessment and cleanup skills. The program is designed to prepare participants for employment in environmental careers while supporting land revitalization efforts in Tribal and rural communities.
The Nevadaworks job training grant will provide $349,984 to help train and grow the skilled workforce in communities where brownfield site assessment, cleanup, and preparation for reuse activities are underway. Participants often overcome various employment barriers and graduate with certifications that enhance their marketability, ensuring long-term environmental careers. Certifications include:
• Lead and asbestos abatement.
• Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.
• Mold remediation.
• Environmental sampling and analysis.
• Other environmental health and safety training.
For more information on the selected Brownfields Job Training Grant recipients across the country, including past grant recipients, please visit EPA’s Grant Factsheet Tool.
Background
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.9 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. To date, Brownfields investments have leveraged more than $42 billion for cleanup and redevelopment and have created more than 220,500 American jobs. Since 1998, EPA has awarded 456 grants totaling over $119 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 five years, the average starting wage for these individuals has been 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 at EPA’s Brownfields Job Training Program Assistance Inquiry Form website.
For more information on this and other types of Brownfields Grants, please visit EPA’s Brownfields Funding website.
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