Brownfields Job Training (JT) Grants - FY 2026
| Agency: | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
|---|---|
| CFDA: | 66.815 |
| Federal FON: | EPA-I-OLEM-OBLR-25-01 |
| Office: | Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) |
| Multipart Grant: | No |
| Next Due: | 09/26/2025 (Application) |
|---|---|
| Solicitation Date: | 07/21/2025 |
| Match Required: | Recommended |
| Match Type: | Cash/In-Kind |
| Actual Funds: | Unspecified |
| Range: | $10,000,000 (Min) / $14,000,000 (Max) |
| Award Range: | $500,000 (Max) |
Summary:
The purpose of this program is to support the delivery of brownfields job training programs that recruit, train, and place local, unemployed, and underemployed residents with the skills needed to secure full-time employment in the environmental field. Training will provide program graduates with the skills and opportunity to seek and obtain environmental jobs that contractors may otherwise fill from outside the affected community. This program will help residents take advantage of jobs across a spectrum of brownfield-related activities, including the assessment, cleanup, remediation, and planning/site preparation for the revitalization of brownfields. This may involve the assessment and cleanup of solid and hazardous waste; chemical risk management; stormwater management relating to site cleanup; planning and site preparation for low-impact development activities; site preparation for green infrastructure installation; and vulnerability assessment and contamination mitigation planning.
Applicants should tailor curricula to the labor market needs of their targeted community in line with the eligible trainings listed on pages 15-18 of the NOFA file. The only required training is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 29 CFR § 1910.120 40-hour hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) which includes an in-person personal protective equipment (PPE) component. Beyond this, applicants should design a curriculum of eligible courses that meets the training needs identified by a local labor market assessment and/or employer survey.
Program participants must be 18 years of age or older at the time of graduation to be placed into an environmental-related job. In addition, program participants must be U.S. citizens and/or Green Card holders permanently residing in the United States and/or its territories.
Funds must be used for direct programmatic costs associated with implementing a training program. Examples of eligible funding uses include:
- Personnel costs, including fringe benefits, for instructors to conduct training and other tasks associated with programmatic training
- Personnel and data infrastructure costs to support programmatic reporting requirements, performance management, and program evaluation
- Costs for recruiting, screening, and placement of individuals in the training program
- Personnel costs for caseworkers or other specialists
- Costs for training materials and work gear associated with the training curriculum
- Development and refinement of existing curricula for training
- Personnel costs for employer engagement activities
- On-the-job training insurance for trainees
- Mentorship associated with on-the-job training, such as peer mentors where an experienced employee is paired with a new trainee
- Costs associated with health exams, drug testing, or licensing fees directly related to the training and/or the placement of graduates in environmental work
Refer to pages 14-15 of the NOFA file for additional examples of eligible funding uses.
An optional webinar is scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for details.
Eligibility Notes:
Eligible applicants are:
- General purpose units of local government
- Land clearance authorities or other quasi-governmental entities that operate under the supervision and control of, or as an agent of, a general purpose unit of local government
- Government entities created by state legislatures
- Regional councils or groups of general purpose units of local government
- Redevelopment agencies that are chartered or otherwise sanctioned by states
- States, including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territories or possessions over which the United States has jurisdiction
- Federally recognized Indian tribes, other than in Alaska, and intertribal consortia
- Alaskan Native regional corporations, Alaska Native village corporations, and the Metlakatla Indian community
- Nonprofit organizations, including workforce investment boards, organized labor unions, and public and nonprofit private institutions of higher education
Applicants may propose forming a coalition comprised of one eligible lead entity that partners with one or more eligible non-lead entities. The lead entity submits an application on behalf of the coalition members, who may receive subawards. Non-lead coalition members may not be an agency or instrumentality of, or be affiliated with, the lead member, except for coalitions in which the state is the lead and one of the members is a regional council or regional commission that is created by a state legislature through a charter or another official action. Non-lead coalition members may not be members of other coalition applications, nor may they submit an application as an individual applicant. In addition, non-lead coalition members may not have an open award through this program.
Applicants must identify one target area they propose to serve, such as county(ies), tribal lands, a number of neighboring towns or cities, a district, a corridor, a shared planning area, or a census tract. Applicants may not propose to serve multiple target areas; however, the funding agency will consider applications that propose to serve large areas, especially in rural communities, that may include a number of towns in a county(ies) and/or tribal lands as well as applications seeking to serve sister cities.
Applicants who received an award through this program in FY 2025 are not eligible to apply, even if they propose to serve a different city or target area. Applicants who received an award through this program in or before FY 2024 are eligible to apply; however, they must demonstrate that they have received payment from the funding agency and that drawn down funds have been disbursed for at least 50 percent by August 1, 2025.
The following entities are not eligible to apply:
- 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
- For-profit or proprietary training organizations or trade schools
Previous award recipients include:
- City of Worcester (Worcester, MA)
- Groundwork Elizabeth (Elizabeth, NJ)
- Southwest Economic Solutions (Detroit, MI)
- Kern County Builders Exchange (Kern, CA)
- City of Texarkana (Texarkana, TX)
Refer to the Award file for additional information regarding previous award recipients.
Eligible Applicants:
Local GovernmentAcademic Institutions
Consortia
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
State Government
Tribal Organizations/Institutions
Application Notes:
Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on September 26, 2025.
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.
Applications must include:
- SF 424
- SF 424A
- EPA key contacts form 5700-54
- EPA form 4700-4
- Project narrative (14 pages max)
- Narrative information sheet (3 pages max)
- Narrative attachments (15 pages max):
- Milestone schedule
- Partnership letters identified in the narrative (if applicable)
- Threshold criteria response, as listed on page 23 of the NOFA file (as applicable)
The project narrative and narrative information sheet must be formatted on single-spaced, standard-sized pages and must use Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri font no smaller than 12-point. Attachments are limited to one scanned image per page. The narrative information sheet must be formatted on the applicant's official letterhead.
The following are required in order to submit an application:
- Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
- SAM (System for Award Management) registration
Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.
An optional webinar will be held for this program as follows:
July 24, 2025
1:00 p.m. ET
URL: usepa.zoomgov.com
Webinar ID: 161 416 2939
Join by phone: (646) 828-7666
Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Community need (40 points)
- Training program description (25 points)
- Budget (15 points)
- Program structure, anticipated outputs, and outcomes (50 points)
- Partnerships (40 points)
- Leveraging (5 points)
- Programmatic capability (25 points)
Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.
| Match Required: | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Match Type: | Cash/In-Kind |
| Actual Funds: | Unspecified |
| Range: | $10,000,000 (Min) / $14,000,000 (Max) |
| Award Range: | $500,000 (Max) |
|---|
Match Notes:
Matching funds are not required for this program, and voluntary cost share will not be accepted; however, the application evaluation process will take into consideration the extent to which the applicant provided a detailed plan to leverage additional funds/resources beyond the award funds to support the proposed project activities and the extent to which these funds/resources will be used to contribute to the performance and success of the proposed project.
Funding Notes:
Between $10 million and $14 million is expected to be available through this program to support up to 20 cooperative agreements of up to $500,000 each.
Award notifications will be made in April 2026.
The project period is expected to last up to five years.
Projects that allocate at least 60 percent of funds to tasks directly associated with instruction/training will be evaluated more favorably.
Funds used to hire trainees as employees plus any other type of participant support costs may not exceed 40 percent of the total award amount.
Administrative costs, including all indirect costs and direct costs for award administration, are limited to 5 percent of the total award amount.
Funds may not be used for:
- Projects that duplicate other federally funded programs for environmental job training in the target community
- Training in general construction skills and trades
- Training in natural resource extraction or related processes, such as hydraulic fracturing, oil refinery, or mining operations
- Training in equipment repairs
- Conducting actual site assessments or cleanups, except within the context of on-the-job training
- Training and monitoring that do not relate to conducting response activities often associated with actual cleanups, except within the context of on-the-job training
- Construction or substantial rehabilitation of buildings or other facilities to house training
- Scholarship funds to support students’ enrollment in college courses
- Membership fees, such as fees required to join placement service organizations or environmental organizations
- Foreign travel
Refer to pages 18-19 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding unallowable costs.
For FY 2025, approximately $7.7 million was distributed via 16 awards ranging from $315,000 to $500,000 through this program. For FY 2024, approximately $7 million was distributed via 14 awards. For FY 2023, more than $14 million was distributed via 29 awards. Refer to the Award file for details.
Contacts:
Matt Wosje
(202) 566-1060
Wosje.Matthew@epa.gov
Agency Address
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460
Contact Notes:
Questions should be directed to Matt Wosje or to the appropriate regional contact listed on pages 5-6 of the NOFA file.
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.
The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.
Files:
NOFA File: US1991_NOFA_FY2026.pdf (855.2 Kb)Other Pre-Award File: US1991_Overview_FY2026.pdf (150.2 Kb)
Award File: US1991_Award_FY2026.pdf (2.4 Mb)
File Notes:
The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Overview file contains general program information, including information regarding a webinar scheduled for this program. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients.
| Project: | Environmental Workforce Training Program (1.0 Mb) |
|---|---|
| Applicant: | Mott Community College |
| Summary: |
The purpose of this program is to facilitate environmental workforce development and job-training programs that recruit, train, and place local, unemployed, and underemployed residents with the skills needed to secure full-time employment in the environmental field, with a focus on solid and hazardous waste remediation, environmental health and safety, and wastewater-related training. Mott Community College requested and received $195,050 to fund the Environmental Workforce Training Program, a project that targets current participants in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program located in the City of Flint, Michigan, and the surrounding areas. The project provides technology training and employment in the recovery and development of over 130 acres of brownfield sites in the area. |
Grant Keywords
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Training & Vocational ServicesHazardous Waste/Remediation/Brownfields
Environment/Natural Resources
Solid Waste
Water Supply/Quality