The Renewable Fuels Association has again received grant funding to continue to support its safety education program through its work with TRANSCAER, a voluntary national outreach program that focuses on community preparedness for possible hazardous material transportation incidents.

A $25,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration will support eight ethanol safety seminars and four “train the trainer” webinars for first responders, and a $40,432 Community Safety Grant from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will fund four Ethanol & Steel Drum Safety seminars in conjunction with the Industrial Steel Drum Institute.

“These federal funds will provide the Renewable Fuels Association with the opportunity to further their training and outreach initiatives to emergency responders in communities across the United States. Through federal grant funding the RFA has already updated their Ethanol Safety Training program, made their ethanol program available online in Spanish, and offered numerous in-person and virtual learning opportunities,” said Erica Bernstein, Director of Outreach, CHEMTREC and TRANSCAER.

Over 1200 individuals were trained this year through 34 training opportunities supported by RFA’s safety program, which has trained over 15,000 in 400 training sessions and events since 2010. For more information on RFA’s work in this area, visit the Ethanol Emergency Response website at www.ethanolresponse.com, where the training programs conducted in the seminars and webinars can be seen.