Environmental Specialist

Job Responsibilities/Duties
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford tank farms contain approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes, most of which originated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel to produce plutonium for defense. These wastes are stored in 149 underground single-shell tanks and 28 double-shell tanks. The mission of the DOE River Protection Project (RPP), one of the world's largest and most complex environmental cleanup projects, is to protect the Columbia River by eliminating the risk to the environment posed by this waste and protecting human health.

Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure, LLC (H2C) key missions are to remove waste from Single Shell Tanks (SSTs) and place in Double Shell Tanks (DSTs), and then treat waste from DSTs to stage for eventual transfer to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) for future vitrification – a process of turning the waste into glass for future disposal. H2C is the prime contractor responsible for the Hanford Tank Farms, and is a large company of 2,500 employees.

H2C seeks an environmental specialist who will support the Environmental Permitting organization. This Environmental Specialist position will support various facilities to obtain or revise the required regulatory permits needed to accomplish mission and project deliverables, regulatory milestones, and potential court mandated schedules. Initial assignments are expected to be focused on dangerous waste permitting activities, but may also include air or water quality permitting, as organizational needs dictate.

The specific duties and responsibilities of the Environmental Specialist position include but are not limited to:

• Prepare/Develop new or revised permits to support projects and facilities in meeting mission objectives, including interfacing with facility operations and engineering personnel, performing calculations, preparing diagrams and schematics, etc.
• Prepare overall permit packages for internal and external review, including permit submittals to the customer and then to various regulatory agencies.
• Provide oversight in the maintenance of existing permits, including interfaces within the environmental organization, projects, other functions, other contractors, and the customer as needed to ensure compliance, answer questions, identify solutions, and collaborate with others to address issues in a timely manner.
• Conduct regulatory analysis and research to support compliance determinations and positions, including interpretations of requirements in state and federal regulations, guidance, permits, case studies, and other environmental sources.
• Provide support for regulatory inspections and public comment response, including documentation to support public notices/public comment, as well as public meetings.
• Develop associated permit or environmental schedules for both the organization and project schedules and provide periodic updates to responsible organizations on status, including recovery actions if necessary.
• Provide technical support to environmental management on any permit or other environmental matters, including inputs to support companywide reporting, which could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
• Work effectively with others to meet deliverables, solve issues in timely manner, seek innovative approaches, apply sound and reasonable logic, follow procedures and plans, and be open and transparent.
• Obtain environmental qualification(s) as may be identified by the environmental manager or environmental permitting manager.
• Perform other duties as assigned or delegated by management commensurate with training and qualifications.

Required Qualifications
Grade 17
BA/BS in Environmental Science, Engineering or related discipline and five (5) years relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience

Grade 18
BA/BS in Environmental Science, Engineering or related discipline and seven (7) years relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience
Note the essential duties for this grade level are like that of the previous grade level; however the scope of responsibility is larger, and the expected level of performance is increased.

Desired Qualifications
*Working knowledge of Washington state dangerous waste regulations and practices (WAC 173-303)

• Familiarity with radioactive air emissions regulations (WAC 246-247) and criteria/toxic air pollutant regulations (WAC 173-400, WAC 173-460)
• Demonstrated experience performing environmental permitting activities or regulatory analysis
• Experience working extensively with environmental regulatory agencies to resolve permitting and compliance issues
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Must be able to communicate with multiple organizations and various levels of management.
• Ability to review and interpret engineering drawings and technical specifications.

Compensation & Benefits
In accordance with the company's philosophy on compensation for exempt and salaried non-exempt employees, H2C takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining initial grade and salary to include assigned job scope and responsibility, a candidate's qualifications as compared to internal comparators performing in a similar role, and the external labor market. A salary offer will be made at the appropriate grade level and within the targeted hiring range posted according to these factors. Note a candidate's prior salary history will not be taken into consideration.

Hiring Range Minimum: $96,938
Hiring Range Maximum: $134,588

H2C offers a comprehensive benefits package to include medical/dental/vision, short-and long-term disability, life insurance, 401(k) with employer match, and paid time off. For a full list of benefits please visit https://hmis.hanford.gov/hr/page.cfm/HEWTBenefits