CIVIC WORKS GRADUATION CEREMONY

FEBRUARY 27, 2012; 6:30 PM

BALTIMORE CENTER FOR GREEN CAREERS

Thank you for that introduction

I want to thank Civic Works and the Center for Green Careers - thank you

for having me. I enjoy when I get the opportunity to get out of Washington,

particularly when it means I get to visit the great city of Baltimore

We’re here today to celebrate the first job training class graduation of 2012.

Graduating - that is a great accomplishment - congratulations to all of the

graduates and their families

I look forward to you entering the job market and through your hard work -

helping to protect our neighborhoods and communities by cleaning up health

and environmental hazards

You will not only be helping local neighborhoods and communities, you will

be helping our national economy

There are some who say that we have to choose between a strong economy

and a healthy environment

In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. History teaches us that

we can have both

I hope many of you had the opportunity to hear or read the President’s State

of the Union Address - he made clear that we need to do more to create jobs

and help economic growth to build an economy built to last

One way to build an economy built to last is to educate and train our

students and workers so that we have a modern workforce ready to perform

the jobs of today and tomorrow

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We need a workforce prepared to do those jobs - and that’s why we’re here

today

I would like to take a few moments to discuss how the U.S. EPA’s

Brownfields program supports job training and encourages cleanup and

redevelopment in communities and neighborhoods around the country

EPA’s Brownfields Program exists to support local communities and cities

like Baltimore

We know the damage that abandoned, blighted properties can do to a

community

A contaminated property – or even a property that is thought to be

contaminated – can make redevelopment next to impossible

No development means no jobs, no jobs means no opportunity, and without

opportunities, communities – even those with deep historic roots – can

eventually wither and die

The Brownfields Program turns that cycle on its head

EPA’s Brownfields Program has helped change the way contaminated

property is perceived, addressed, and managed

The Brownfields Program was built from the bottom-up, with the

communities’ concerns as its focus

In 2011, the EPA Brownfields Program leveraged 6,447 jobs and $2.14

billion in cleanup and redevelopment funds

The Brownfields Program accomplishments to date include more than

18,000 properties assessed, over 700 properties cleaned up and more than

33,000 acres of brownfields properties made ready for reuse

In 1995, the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC)

and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency co-sponsored a series of

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public hearings entitled, Public Dialogues on Urban Revitalization and

Brownfields: Envisioning Healthy and Sustainable Communities

As a result of these dialogues, recommendations were raised to EPA

Among these recommendations were key issues including Job Creation,

Training, and Career Development. In 2002, the Small Business Liability

Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed by Congress, which

provided statutory authority for the Job Training Program

Through the Brownfields Law, there was continued funding for job training,

and also funding to support assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund

grants

To this day, EPA’s Job Training Program has sought to ensure that the

economic benefits derived from brownfields redevelopment remain with

local residents

Rather than seeing redevelopment jobs outsourced, the Job Training

Program was developed to help residents take advantage of jobs created by

the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in their communities

It is important to note that graduates of the program are highly respected in

their communities and many were active in the response and cleanup at the

World Trade Center site in New York, following Hurricane Katrina, and the

BP Oil Spill on the Gulf Coast, to list a few

In 2011 the Brownfields Program expanded the job training grant program

to collaborate with other offices within my Office of Solid Waste and

Emergency Response (OSWER)

Through this collaboration, the Brownfields Program decided to rename the

program the Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training

Program, because the focus was no longer only on brownfields, but also

included supporting training in other environmental media

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The expanded program is an effort to provide communities with the

flexibility to broaden their training curriculums to other areas, such as

electronics recycling, or training in underground storage tank removal and

leak prevention, and to meet the varying local labor market demands

throughout the country

Additionally, with the expansion of the program, graduates like yourselves,

will now have more comprehensive training in a diverse array of skills

which will help equip you for long-term employment

In many instances, brownfields assessment and cleanup projects can be

short-term in nature, but by providing graduates, with a diversity of

certifications in the environmental field – it increases the likelihood that you

will sustain employment

This year is an exciting year, because in a sense, all of those who were

awarded new grants in 2011 are serving as role models for this expanded

program

As of January 2012, approximately 10,275 individuals had completed

training and approximately 7,155 obtained employment in the environmental

field, with an average starting hourly wage of $14.12

These numbers indicate a cumulative placement rate of approximately 70%

since the program was created in 1998

Again, I want to congratulate all of you on the hard work you have invested

into completing this training program and recognize Civic Works for the

excellent work it has done through the years as a five time grant recipient

No matter what your background, or what challenges you have overcome,

you now have the opportunity, to not only create a living for yourself and

family with a livable wage, but you also have an opportunity to help make

your community a better place by helping to rebuild, clean up, and revitalize

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Finding a job may be difficult right now, but remember that you all have

something to offer employers, and remember to believe in yourselves

The environmental field is a growing field and all of you have cutting edge

training and experience which will help you in the years to come

Thank you, good luck, and once again congratulations

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