Government Program Celebrates 25 Years of Commitment to Environmental Justice Movement

Introduction and Methods

Since 1995, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP) has impacted thousands of lives by providing individuals with the knowledge and skill sets for careers in environmental clean-up, construction, hazardous materials, and emergency response. ECWTP grantees work with community partners to reach and deliver training to those most in need across the United States and empower individuals with the knowledge and skill sets needed for sustainable careers. The lives of those who enroll as participants, or trainees, are transformed because they can pursue new career opportunities and provide for their families. Trainees also apply lessons learned and become leaders in their own workplaces and communities. This article showcases the efforts of ECWTP grantees, their strategies for recruitment and training, and how they have and will continue to advance environmental justice principles.

The authors reviewed books, government reports, white papers, and online resources to provide an introduction of historical events that helped foster the environmental justice movement. The authors also reviewed materials that were used to develop a new web page commemorating the 25th anniversary of the ECWTP. These materials included phone interviews with program managers and principal investigators, as well as progress reports, trainee anecdotes, and other internal program documents for several ECWTP grantees funded from program years 2015 to 2020. Unless stated otherwise, these data are not publicly available.

Due to the vast history and wealth of information associated with the ECWTP overall, the authors chose to capture a snapshot of the program's efforts by focusing on 6 grantees that were active during the most recently completed funding cycle between 2015 and 2020. During this time, these grantees trained 2,668 students and achieved an overall 71% job placement rate. These grantees have conducted training for more than a decade, and together, they demonstrate the program's successes in advancing the principles of environmental justice at the individual, workplace, and community levels. Further, several grantees responded to legacy disasters and emergencies in the United States, such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and their response has served as a catalyst to help federal agencies like NIEHS re-envision how to engage underserved communities in clean-up efforts.

Origins of the Environmental Justice Movement

According to Robert Bullard, PhD, a prominent and well-known leader of the environmental justice movement, the term environmental justice has broadened to include physical, social, and cultural dimensions of life. ¹ The environmental justice movement encompasses labor unions, civil rights leaders, Indigenous peoples, environmentalists, and others. However, this article focuses primarily on the efforts of nonprofit organizations (grantees) funded by the ECWTP, which consists of a network of labor unions, academic institutions, health and safety professionals, and community-based organizations.

The origins of the environmental justice movement can be traced to the efforts of civil rights activists, communities, labor groups, migrant workers, and many others who called for equal rights and protections within their neighborhoods and workplaces. Even after the passing of the US Civil Rights Act in 1964, many community leaders and activists noticed that people of color and underserved communities faced discrimination and unfair treatment related to environmental protections.^{2, 3} Improper land use and disposal of hazardous waste in communities like Love Canal, New York; Houston, Texas; Warren County, North Carolina, and many others led to protests that garnered national attention in the 1970s and 1980s. ^{4 – 6}

Other events further highlighted the need to address inequities in the workplace, especially on issues related to workers’ rights, safety, and education. In the 1960s, in the San Joaquin Valley in California, community activists and migrant farm workers protested for better working conditions and protections against pesticides. ⁷ In Houston, Texas, students from Texas Southern University challenged the city's policies on landfills located in segregated neighborhoods.^{8, 9} In Memphis, Tennessee, Black sanitation workers, inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., galvanized a community for better wages and safety standards for essential workers. ⁸ In 1979, the lawsuit, Bean v. Southwestern Waste Management, Inc. was the first of its kind in the United States that charged environmental discrimination in waste facility siting under civil rights laws. ¹

Collectively, this protest activity prompted several research studies, which documented a connection between the location of landfills and toxic waste sites near low-income, minority communities. ² In 1990, Bullard documented several case studies in Dallas, Virginia, Louisiana, and Alabama that highlight the connection between race, class, and environmental quality in his seminal book, Dumping in Dixie. ⁹ In response to the events across the United States, leaders and activists in communities, unions, and labor centers responded with the formation of coalitions to address environmental justice issues. Altogether, the protests and actions driven by community residents, workers, and other activists, forced the local and federal governments to respond, spurring the environmental justice movement as we know it today.

Legislation like the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, initiated programs to identify harmful Superfund clean-up sites, establish a database of sites (National Priorities List), and evaluate the safety of chemicals. One decade later the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) was passed as an amendment to CERCLA to emphasize the importance of focusing on human health issues posed by hazardous waste sites, increase state involvement in the Superfund program, and encourage community participation in decision making. ¹⁰

Soon after, the injustices of community exposure to environmental hazards came in for more explicit attention. The 1983 Government Accountability Report, Siting Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation with Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities, found that 3 out of 4 hazardous waste landfills in 8 Southeastern cities were located in Black and poor communities. ¹¹ The 1987 Toxic Wastes and Race Report documented disproportionate environmental burdens facing people of color and low-income communities. ¹² Leaders of the October 1991 Environmental Leadership Summit drafted and adopted the 17 principles of Environmental Justice, and shortly after, in 1992, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Office of Environmental Equity (renamed to the Office of Environmental Justice in 1994). The EPA defines environmental justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. ¹³

By 1994, the environmental justice movement had begun to crystalize and would culminate with President Bill Clinton signing an Executive Order on Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in minority and low-income populations. ³ The president signed the executive order during the Health and Research Needs to Ensure Environmental Justice Symposium, co-hosted by NIEHS on February 10 to 12, 1994.

History of the ECWTP

SARA led to the establishment of other important federal initiatives that focus on worker training and education, in particular authorizing funding for an assistance program for training and education of workers engaged in activities related to hazardous materials and waste removal, clean-up, and emergency response. ¹⁰ US Congress assigned the responsibility for administering this program to NIEHS, which birthed the Worker Training Program (WTP). WTP provides grants to nonprofit organizations, including labor-based health and safety organizations and academic institutions, to deliver training to workers involved in handling hazardous materials or responding to emergencies. The program's mission is to support the development of a network of nonprofit organizations that are committed to protecting workers and their communities through high-quality, peer-reviewed health and safety curricula. ¹⁴

Since its inception in 1987, WTP has advocated for and developed tools, resources, and training in the service of worker safety, community empowerment, and environmental justice. A prime example of WTP's commitment to environmental justice is its ECWTP, formerly known as the Minority Worker Training Program. ¹⁵ The US House of Representatives authorized funding for the program in September 1994. This effort was led by Congressman Louis Stokes, representing Cleveland, Ohio, who believed in advancing worker training for underserved individuals; this would in turn, activate, empower, and embolden individuals in those communities to lead efforts for a healthier and cleaner local environment.

Since then, the ECWTP has focused on delivery of comprehensive training for individuals from disadvantaged communities. This includes individuals who are underrepresented, underemployed, or reside in neighborhoods that are environmentally burdened with pollution. The objective of the ECWTP is to increase the number of disadvantaged and underrepresented workers in areas such as environmental restoration, construction, hazardous materials and waste handling, and emergency response through comprehensive safety and health training. ¹⁵ This program seeks to reduce occupational health disparities by increasing sustainable employment opportunities and empowering workers with the knowledge needed to advocate for their safety and health rights.

Exploring the ECWTP as a Model to Advance Environmental Justice

A healthy community comprises quality education, adequate and safe housing, employment opportunities and job skills training, as well as access to public transportation, safe physical environments, and health care. ¹⁶ The connection between sustainable employment and health must be stressed within the context of environmental justice. People earning fair incomes tend to have better mental and physical health outcomes which, in turn, provides collective community benefits. ¹⁷

Programs like the NIEHS ECWTP embody environmental justice principles by ensuring the fair treatment of low-income, minority, and underserved communities and providing workers and residents with the knowledge, skills, and training necessary to meaningfully participate in addressing the environmental concerns in their community. ¹⁸ According to Timothy Fields, former administrator for the EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, residents who live near hazardous waste sites, including Brownfields and Superfund sites, want to be involved in clean-up efforts—for employment and economic development, as well as for public health reasons. ¹⁹

The relationship between work, race, ethnicity, and health disparities is well-documented. ^{20 , 21} The NIEHS ECWTP acknowledges this relationship in seeking to advance worker training and safety as well as the principles of environmental justice. ECWTP grantees have changed during the life of the program, but the program's mission has remained the same. Grantees deliver training focused on health and safety, technical job-specific skills, and life skills, as well as social support and networking opportunities. Life skills training is an important component of ECWTP, and often includes a focus on core/life skills like conflict resolution, time management, interview and resume writing skills, and other topics to help prepare trainees for the work environment and culture. By delivering life skills training, grantees help break down systemic barriers to employment that disproportionately affect environmental justice communities. According to a study conducted by Ruth Ruttenberg, a longtime evaluator for the NIEHS ECWTP, this program provides opportunities to residents of environmental justice communities to improve their economic status by learning new career skills, gaining knowledge about the hazards around contaminated property sites and clean-ups, participating in rebuilding and revitalizing their communities, taking part in community involvement activities, and helping build a local economic base. ²²

While the NIEHS ECWTP has operated on a relatively small budget since its inception, it continues to have a significant return on investment. A 2015 economic impact study revealed that the program's overall return on investment had a $100 million return on a $3.5 million annual investment from the federal government. This amounted to an estimated total of $1.79 billion from 1995 to 2013. Findings also showed that over that period, ECWTP increased the probability of employment by 59% for graduates and resulted in $1.6 million in higher earnings due to increased likelihood of employment, more hours worked, and higher wages. ²³ To date, ECWTP has impacted the lives of approximately 14,023 workers in more than 25 states. Recent data from 2019 indicates a 77% job placement rate for ECWTP graduates. ²⁴ Although the COVID-19 pandemic impacted training and employment for graduates, particularly in 2020 and 2021, the NIEHS ECWTP is seeing job placement rates return to stable numbers. ²⁴

In the remainder of this article, we explore the recent and past efforts of 6 grantees who delivered ECWTP training across the United States to help individuals obtain sustainable careers in environmental clean-up, construction, hazardous materials and waste handling, and emergency response (Figure 1). Their approach to partnerships, recruitment, support services, and community engagement highlights a successful model that in turn is advancing environmental justice principles.

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Figure 1.

Map of states and cities reached by Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP) grantees funded from 2015 to 2020. Image courtesy of National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training.

Grantee partnerships with government agencies, community and faith-based organizations, academia, labor unions, and employers have been integral to ECWTP's success. ^a By working with local partners, grantees tailor trainings to fit the needs of their target audiences in various locations. Grantees are also encouraged to establish and engage local advisory boards as stakeholders who offer guidance on how to improve program recruitment and outcomes. Advisory boards typically consist of community leaders, employers, local or state government representatives, community-based organizations, former trainees, and union representatives.

Each grantee's story illustrates how ECWTP continues to advance the principles of environmental justice. This is demonstrated by grantees’ efforts that are focused on:

Reducing occupational health disparities for low-income and underrepresented workers.

Reaching Underserved Communities and Building Diverse Partnerships

ECWTP grantees are likely to understand that trust, community relationships, and networks take years to build. They have come to know the communities in which they serve through direct engagement, open and constructive communication, and diverse partnerships. With this awareness, they are able to implement strategies to recruit underemployed individuals for job training and pre-apprenticeship programs. Recruitment into these programs occurs most commonly in three ways: direct engagement, referrals, and media outreach. ²⁵ Direct engagement involves face-to-face meetings, presentations, and conversations at community centers, high schools, or churches. Referrals involve direct word-of-mouth marketing. This can be through ECWTP grantees, trainees, or community partners. Media outreach includes brochures, social media, door-to-door advertising, or local advertisements.

ECWTP grantees rely on diverse community partnerships. These partners can include local nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organizations, workforce investment boards, local governments, and more. The common missions among these community partner organizations focus on poverty alleviation, racial equity, opportunity, and sustainability. Similar to recruitment, ECWTP grantees seek and are sought out by their partners. Partnerships are unique and vary depending on the type of training program offered by ECWTP grantees. For example, an ECWTP training program dedicated to pre-apprenticeship training for construction fields may reach out to local businesses, worker centers, or job placement organizations. Conversely, poverty alleviation, reform, or disaster recovery organizations may look for ECWTP grantees that can help train workers to perform safe clean-up following hurricanes or wildfires.

OAI, Inc., an ECWTP grantee based in Chicago, emphasizes the importance of recruitment and retention for each of their trainees. This focus is demonstrated in their efforts to reach underemployed individuals who have faced multiple barriers to employment, including the formerly incarcerated or returning citizens, housing insecure, or those with addiction or disability. OAI's geographic reach spans across Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas.

OAI's success in this area is due to their partners, which include the nonprofit organizations and worker centers: CitySquare Opportunity Center in Dallas, NuStart Career Builders in Kansas City, and a new partner, RecycleForce in Indianapolis. CitySquare Opportunity Center's relationship with local employers, like JMEG, Hilti, and Austin Bridge and Road, has allowed customization of training to cater to employer and trainee needs. NuStart Career Builders has impacted the OAI ECWTP by helping recruit formerly incarcerated individuals. Career development initiatives have proven to be a critical step in providing returning citizens a path to improve their future. In addition, their expungement initiative has helped trainees clear their criminal records, making them eligible for positions with union contractors who otherwise would not hire felons. Their partnership with Kansas City-based Metropolitan Community College has helped the program offer employer-requested courses, such as forklift safety and warehousing logistics. RecycleForce meets the challenge of high rates of repeat offenders by helping returning citizens break down the barriers to employment. RecycleForce provides transitional jobs and comprehensive services designed to get their lives back on track. The RecycleForce model offers program participants an integrated focus on job skills, character development, and personal counseling. This wrap-around approach greatly increases the chance of sustained future employment and decreases the instances of re-offending.

One graduate of Recycle Force's program described it this way:

“For successful re-entry to occur and endure, a robust support network is imperative. To a person, the RecycleForce president, board members, and staff more than fulfill this vital role. Before my arrival at RecycleForce, I would have never dreamed that such an exceptional and unique place existed. There is also NO question that I could have rebuilt my life to this extent without their deep commitment, multifaceted training, and genuine concern for myself and other ex-offenders here. In sum, RecycleForce—from top to bottom—gave me a second chance and believed in me. I thus strive to diligently demonstrate that their faith was not misplaced.”

Another ECWTP grantee, the Western Region Universities Consortium (WRUC), has partnered with local organizations in metropolitan areas throughout the Pacific coast to recruit individuals from underserved communities. WRUC is directed by the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program and the University of Washington Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety. In Los Angeles, California, WRUC partners with Women In Non-Traditional Employment Roles, the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, Center for Employment Opportunity, and Compass Rose Collaborative. These partners utilize direct engagement with communities affected by environmental justice concerns, including hazardous waste sites, unplugged oil and gas wells, retired recycling facilities, power plants, oil refineries, and landfills. These communities are more likely to be communities of color and have lower socioeconomic status. ²⁶ WRUC ECWTP then bridges community organizations with local unions, government, and job placement organizations.

In metropolitan areas surrounding Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, WRUC facilitates enrollment into pre-apprentice training programs in construction fields. Their partners, The Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Education in Seattle and Constructing Hope in Portland, recruit in the most underserved neighborhoods. Through numerous documented success stories, WRUC ECWTP trainees and graduates have indicated that participating in the program has helped them progress from situations involving homelessness, drug addiction or abuse, or having a criminal record to experiencing a chance at a new life and financial stability.

Training for Pre-Apprenticeship Programs, Environmental Careers, and Sustainable Job Pathways

ECWTP grantees and their partners possess expertise in developing training curricula, delivering these trainings, and combining them with cultural competency, life skills, and comprehensive social services. By offering training in the fields of environmental restoration and remediation, construction, hazardous materials or waste handling, and emergency response, ECWTP grantees help prepare men and women for apprenticeship programs and sustainable careers.

Within environmental restoration and remediation, the WRUC ECWTP and its partners work with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to provide training in environmental pollution and hazardous waste clean-up in Los Angeles, which has historically and adversely affected communities of color. The OAI ECWTP located in Chicago has helped fill jobs within the booming solar panel industry in Chicago by delivering trainings and certifications in solar panel installation.

Another grantee, CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training, uses an apprenticeship and job readiness model for jobs in the environmental and construction industries. CPWR is a nationwide leader in construction safety and health. CPWR is also the research and training arm of North America's Building Trades Unions, and works with community-based partners, local unions, employers, and academic institutions to facilitate trainings in disadvantaged communities in the urban areas of East Palo Alto, California; Flint, Michigan; New Orleans, Louisiana; and St. Paul, Minnesota. For example, in response to the 2014 water crisis in Flint, the CPWR ECWTP partnered with GST Michigan Works and the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council to deliver a training program to build a cadre of workers who could replace Flint's outdated and unsafe water supply infrastructure by preparing community residents for entry into a registered construction apprenticeship program. “By the second year of the training program, 20 participants had been placed into a formal apprenticeship in one of the trades participating in the rebuild of Flint and its water system.” ²⁷

One trainee/graduate, A. Jones, participated in the Flint Michigan program and has been an apprentice for 2 different contractors involved in water remediation in Flint. For one of them, he removed and replaced lead water lines to Flint residents’ homes; for the other, he worked on the construction of the new Genesee County Water Treatment Plant.

“The best part about all of this is that I was invited by my 8-year-old son to visit his classroom, where he presented me with an award,” said Jones. “It says, ‘Thanks Dad, for making our water safe.’ That's what means the most to me.”

The CPWR ECWTP in Flint continues to provide a return on investment for residents, and it has been instrumental in impacting policy change in the State of Michigan. The program's success provided an opportunity to encourage changes to state public policy to recognize sponsors of registered apprenticeship and apprentice readiness programs as eligible training providers. ²⁸ House Bill 4040 was signed into law on June 24, 2021, by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. ²⁹ The enacted legislation ensures that apprentice readiness programs like the CPWR ECWTP in Flint continue to enable program participants to overcome employment barriers by successfully transitioning to careers in the environmental and construction industries.

Because of deep ties with community-based organizations and local union organizations, the CPWR ECWTP has put in place pathways to sustainable careers. This focus ensures that trainees have opportunities to improve their livelihoods and provide for their families. For example, in California, their program established a labor agreement with employers in the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and others. Under the agreement, employers get first source hiring through JobTrain, CPWR's training provider in East Palo Alto. This means that these trainees are the first applicants considered for employment opportunities. The partnership has mutually benefited trainees, who earn well-paid jobs, and local employers, who gain skilled employees.

ECWTP grantee Atlantic Center for Occupational Health and Safety Training (Atlantic Center), formerly known as the New Jersey/New York Hazardous Materials Worker Training Center, also uses a pre-apprenticeship model. The Atlantic Center, directed by Rutgers University, parters with the New York City District Council of Carpenters Training Center to deliver training through the BuildingWorks Pre-Apprenticeship Program. The program introduces low-income individuals from New York City, Newark, New Jersey, and surrounding areas, to construction and carpentry industries. BuildingWorks trainees take classes from industry professionals, academics from the Rutgers University School of Public Health, and even former ECWTP trainee graduates, in a variety of courses, including worker health and safety, environmental worker training, construction safety, scaffold awareness, and hazardous waste worker training.

The BuildingWorks Pre-Apprenticeship Program has been a successful model: approximately 70% of program graduates began unionized apprenticeships, the majority as carpenters with the New York City District Council of Carpenters. After the completion of the pre-apprenticeship BuildingWorks program and a 4-year apprenticeship program, long-term socioeconomic outcomes for trainees improve substantially. According to Atlantic Center research, prior to training, the average individual earned a yearly income of $14,500, and was 50% likely to be unemployed, 25% likely to receive government Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program assistance, and 13% likely to live in public housing. After completing BuildingWorks training and the 4-year apprenticeship, the average individual earned a yearly income of $96,800, and was 75% likely to be an active union member, 30% likely to own a home, and 30% likely to be debt free.

According to Mitchel Rosen, PhD, the principal investigator for the Atlantic Center and director for the Center for Public Health Workforce Development at Rutgers School of Public Health:

“The success of the BuildingWorks program is shown in the accomplishments of our participants. When they graduate and go on to work in a sustainable career, earning a good wage, providing for their family, and saving for the future, that is true success. The BuildingWorks program changes lives.”

A path toward employment opportunities can take many forms. The Steelworkers Charitable and Educational Organization (SCEO) ECWTP bridged a unique training partnership between US-based industrial unions and immigrant worker centers, including partners at the Communications Workers of America, the Labor Institute, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Make the Road New York (MRNY). SCEO ECWTP trainees under MRNY's Community Health Worker Training program, which is now part of the Atlantic Center for Occupational Health and Safety Training Consortium, are mostly underserved and disadvantaged women of color living in and around New York City. These trainees go through a comprehensive training course and hands-on internship program to become certified community health workers. Trainees obtain certifications in Mental Health First Aid, 10-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) General Industry, OSHA Health and Safety Trainings, and Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment. These certifications prepare them for a 135-hour internship program with local health clinics, hospitals, and general health service organizations, which serve as a stepping stone to full-time employment.

Empowering Individuals and Fostering Improved Workplaces and Communities

In addition to the delivery of training programs, the ECWTP model sets itself apart through its efforts to couple technical skills training with life skills training and comprehensive social services. Life skills training may cover a wide range of topics like basic mathematics, computer training, financial planning, and resume building and networking, while social services may include housing support, legal aid, and translation and English language services. ECWTP grantees adopt and adapt services to fit the needs of their program and respective target audiences.

While quantitative metrics, such as program completion and employment, have been important to measure the success of the OAI ECWTP, the program has also evaluated the social and economic impacts of their trainings. OAI uses a social-ecological model and an economic assessment to measure these impacts. The social ecologic framework is a model that helps identify the influence that training has on participants across 5 levels: intrapersonal (individual), interpersonal, organizational, community, and societal (public policy). ³⁰ OAI has worked with unbiased, third-party evaluators to help determine if training results in a transfer of safety and health information across these levels. This model is key to not only becoming qualified for employment but also helping them become leaders in their community.

The construction industry has been particularly affected by the opioid epidemic. ³¹ According to CPWR, “state-level studies have found that construction workers are six to seven times more likely to die of an opioid overdose than workers in other professions.” ³² To help prevent opioid use disorder, the CPWR ECWTP, as well as other grantees, began incorporating opioid awareness training into some of their programs. In New Orleans, CPWR conducted a pilot training program for ECWTP trainees on opioid awareness in partnership with the Gulf Coast Carpenters and Millwrights Training Trust Fund. The training highlighted many aspects of CPWR's comprehensive toolkit and resources to inform and empower construction workers about opioid use and addiction. ³² This training serves as a model and guide for the CPWR ECWTP in delivering future opioid awareness courses.

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Consortium ECWTP takes a unique approach to life skills, social services, and mentorship. The HBCU Consortium, co-led by Texas Southern University in Houston and the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) in New Orleans, has a rich history and tradition within the environmental justice movement. Founded in 1992, the DSCEJ was the nation's first environmental justice center affiliated with an HBCU. ² Today, DSCEJ functions as a nonprofit entity but maintains connection with a network of HBCUs through various consortiums. ³³ This network ensures equitable partnerships and engagement with academics who represent African American communities and other people of color.

The long-standing experience of both DSCEJ and Texas Southern University as part of the HBCU Consortium has enabled an understanding of issues surrounding poverty, chronic health disparities, and access to education and job training and how these factors have disproportionately affected underserved communities in the South and Gulf Coast. Therefore, the HBCU Consortium ECWTP pioneered the “Communiversity model,” which establishes a bilateral relationship between local universities and their community residents. ³⁴ To build on this model, some programs have instituted advisory boards for each training location that further bridge community leaders, nonprofit organizations, academia, and government officials. The advisory boards also play an important role in matching trainees with employers.

These relationships and networks have empowered HBCU Consortium ECWTP trainees to embrace and advocate for environmental justice principles. This was exemplified in 2014 when former HBCU Consortium ECWTP graduates working on a demolition and construction site at the Iberville Housing Development in New Orleans spoke out against the substandard and dangerous working conditions. Through their knowledge of OSHA standards, the graduates were able to identify the hazards, prompt an OSHA inspection, and then remediate their conditions.

In addition, ECWTP trainees become leaders in rebuilding communities following natural disasters. In the Gulf states, the HBCU Consortium ECWTP filled a critical need in disaster preparedness and response following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Spill in 2010. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the region needed individuals trained in Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER), hazardous waste handling, and environmental remediation. The DSCEJ stepped in and partnered with WTP grantee the United Steelworkers to initiate the Safe Way Back Home Project, a community clean-up project that facilitated the restoration of a predominantly African American community in New Orleans. As part of the project, ECWTP trainees were deployed to help rebuild flooded neighborhoods in New Orleans by removing hazardous materials and contaminated topsoil, identifying potential growth of mold, delivering safety training, and leading hundreds of community volunteers from churches, universities, government programs, and nonprofit organizations. ³⁵

One trainee, K. Graves, graduated from the HBCU Consortium ECWTP in 2020. A single mother of 7 kids, Graves applied to become a licensed mold remediation contractor in Louisiana shortly after Hurricane Ida in 2021. She started her company, HER Restoration Solutions, LLC, after her home was heavily damaged by the storm and many neighbors needed help restoring their homes. Graves was asked to partner with DSCEJ and the nonprofit, CARE, to assist with a mold remediation initiative. She assisted with the outreach and recruitment of an all-female class, helped mentor the women, and then employed the women to conduct mold remediation on a full-time basis after they successfully completed 24-hour mold remediation training.

Discussion

This article examines only a portion of grantees ever funded by the NIEHS ECWTP; however, their efforts exemplify the program’s more than 25-year commitment to advance environmental justice by empowering individuals from marginalized, low-income, or polluted communities. While each ECWTP grantee has taken a distinct approach, all grantees have focused on people, programs, and partnerships. As a result, these synergies have produced exponential impacts at the individual, workplace, community, and societal levels (Figure 2).

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Figure 2.

Infographic of components and impacts of Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP). Image courtesy of National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training.

Moving forward, new ECWTP grantees (those funded through 2025) are already extending the program's reach to new communities, states, and territories. ²⁴ For example, OAI is working with Amplify Chicago to provide environmental health and safety training to young adults (ages 20 to 26) in the justice system to provide them with a sustainable pathway to employment upon their release. WRUC is partnering with the Zender Environmental Health and Research Group to provide training for unemployed and underemployed residents in remote Alaska Native villages that are impacted by environmental health issues. This training will build trainees’ capacity to recognize and respond to hazards in their respective workplaces and communities. Further, Sustainable Workplace Alliance, a new grantee, is partnering with nonprofit organizations in Brevard County, Florida, to deliver safety, job training, and placement services for communities impacted by high rates of poverty, unemployment, and COVID-19.

Investments to expand the NIEHS ECWTP or similar models around the United States will help further the goals and legacy of the environmental justice movement. Federal investments in these types of programs will help empower underserved communities on how to advocate for themselves and train and prepare them on how to respond to future environmental health threats. As future threats loom, including infrastructure challenges observed in Flint and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change observed in recent hurricanes, the ECWTP and its model training programs are more important today than ever.

In January 2021, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order 13990 on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, indicating a commitment to, “prioritize both environmental justice and the creation of the well-paying union jobs necessary to deliver on these goals.” ³⁶ A few days later, President Biden signed Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. ³⁷ This order created the Justice40 Initiative, a government-wide effort to ensure that federal agencies work with states and local communities to deliver at least 40% of the overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities. ³⁸ The new White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council plays a special role in advising the federal government on these efforts. ³⁹ It is noteworthy that the principal investigators of the HBCU Consortium, one of the 6 ECWTP grantees mentioned in this article, were appointed by President Biden to serve as members of the council. ^b

Conclusion

Based on more than 25 years of community and trainee success stories, the NIEHS ECWTP has demonstrated a commitment to mend environmental injustices and provide men and women from disadvantaged communities with sustainable careers. ⁴⁰ As demonstrated by the grantee organizations described in this article, these programs thrive when they recruit individuals from vulnerable and disadvantaged communities; collaborate with a diverse set of partners; deliver technical (i.e., construction and carpentry) and life skills training (i.e., communication and financial literacy); provide comprehensive social services; and create sustainable job pathways through hiring agreements and apprenticeships. Lastly, these programs embrace the principles of environmental justice, health equity, and poverty alleviation.

With the infrastructure, leadership, and partnerships already in place, the NIEHS ECWTP provides a national model for the types of programs needed to achieve goals specific to workforce development and resilience, especially during the ongoing climate crisis. In 2021, the NIEHS ECWTP was selected as one of 21 pilot programs for the Justice40 Initiative. These programs were selected by reviewing White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council recommendations.

In a recent interview with NIEHS Director Rick Woychik, NIEHS WTP and ECWTP Director Sharon Beard said:

“ECWTP is all about helping disadvantaged communities, and I think that is why we were selected to participate in the Justice40 pilot program. It is a natural fit for us because 100 percent of the benefits of the training initiatives we fund go to underserved communities. We provide the resources and tools that participants need to be successful. I think that in many ways, ECWTP can serve as a model for projects that go beyond environmental career training, and I look forward to expanding on what we have done to help inform broader efforts across the country.” ⁴¹