E.P.A. awards nearly $200,000 for environmental job training in Richmond, California

SAN FRANCISCO - The E.P.A. today announced a $192,300 environmental workforce development grant to RichmondBUILD, an environmental job training plan in Richmond, California RichmondBUILD will use the federal grant to train 51 students and place at least 45 graduates in environmental jobs including solar energy installation, hazardous waste removal, and construction.

"We're pleased to see RichmondBUILD is helping community members gain the skills and experience needed for good-paying, green jobs that help protect our environment," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "EPA is proud to continue our support for RichmondBUILD."

RichmondBUILD was one of the 1st job training programs to gain backing from EPA's Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training plan when it was launched in 1998. According to RichmondBUILD, the plan has successfully graduated hundreds of students and places 80 percent of its graduates at an average starting wage of $18.33 an hour. The plan has recently partnered with Marin Clean Energy, their contractor Stion, and Chevron to train and hire RichmondBUILD graduates for the Solar One Project, a new 60-acre, twelve megawatt solar farm at a former Chevron Richmond Refinery brownfield site.

EPA's environmental workforce development and job training grants are provided to nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities to recruit, train, and place residents from pollution-impacted communities, including low-income and minority, unemployed, and underemployed individuals. E.P.A. has funded 239 job training grants totaling over $49 million through the job training program. In excess of 13,800 students have completed training and In excess of 10,000 have obtained employment in the environmental field.

More information about EPA's environmental workforce development program: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/job.htm

More information about RichmondBUILD: http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?nid=1243

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