A federal grant worth $500,000 for Brownfields Job Training Program was given to the city of Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields Job Training Program will give the City of Rochester a $500,000 grant. This makes Rochester one of four organizations in New York State to get the grant.

Officials say that the goal of the program is to clean up and change blighted brownfield sites in the city. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the federal grant is the single largest investment in brownfields infrastructure.

The City of Rochester says it will use the money to start a new Brownfields Environmental Skills training program. The program will train about 100 people, and 80 percent of them will get jobs in environmental remediation.

The City says that the goal of the new program is to make the Rochester Environmental Job (REJob) program even more successful. More than 120 students have graduated from REJob and are now working in the environmental construction industry.

Mayor Malik Evans said, “This federal grant is an important investment for the city of Rochester and its residents.” “I am very thankful to the EPA for helping us reach our goals of making Rochester greener and more sustainable and working toward environmental justice. Cleaning up brownfields in our community will make it easier for investors to invest in the future, and training people to work in the environmental construction field will help us create a safe, fair, and prosperous Rochester and give city residents jobs.

This gives the City of Rochester a total of $1.1 million in grants from the EPA Brownfields Job Training program.