The mission of the Brownfields Toolbox website (brownfields-toolbox.org) is to provide residents of brownfields-affected communities with the knowledge and resources necessary to undertake activities that will maximize:
- environmental job development,
- education, and
- employment opportunities.
The first version of the site was launched in late 2006. It was rebuilt and expanded in 2009 to include:
- Professional Learning Community (PLC) resources,
- FAQs,
- announcements,
- an EPA-funded Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (JT) grantee site map, and more.
The site was expanded and improved further in 2017 and 2020 to:
- improve site architecture,
- showcase updated resources,
- and improve the distribution of program components.
EPA Partnership with HMTRI
The Hazardous Materials Training and Research Institute (HMTRI, at HMTRI.org) has been working with EPA on the Brownfields Initiative since its inception in 1994. Since that time, HMTRI has organized and conducted 21 annual Environmental Job Development All-Grantee meetings. These events have been attended by more than 1,500 EPA-funded JT grantees and prospective grantees. The meetings focus on improving the effectiveness of job training programs, and sharing training and job development methodologies.
As of 2020, EPA has funded 328 job training grants. Most of the grantees have received training and technical assistance from HMTRI.
For questions about HMTRI’s technical assistance to JT grantees and prospective grantees, contact The Brownfields Toolbox team at hmtri@eicc.edu.