Environmental Planner/Regulatory Specialist

Background

Tellus Civic Science Corporation (Tellus) provides world-class science, engineering, research, planning, and consulting solutions focused on resource conservation and restoration, carbon reduction, and sustainability to mitigate the impacts of climate change, strengthen community resilience, preserve our environment, and create a more equitable society for all. We are a team of environmental scientists, planners, engineers, policy experts, geospatial analysts, and data scientists with a passion to improve our local, national, and global environment. We seek highly motivated professionals to join our team who share this passion!

Tellus seeks an Experienced Environmental Planner or Regulatory Specialist to assist the USEPA and California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) to manage regulatory response to open leaking underground storage tank (LUST) cases within the State of California. This position will serve as a resource to lead the development and implementation of environmental program policies and procedures and assist the State Water Board's Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in facilitating UST program improvements. This position will support DWQ's goals through various means including preparing and interpreting rules and regulations, reviewing alternatives, preparing technical or programmatic reports to demonstrate progress toward program goals, evaluating the various environmental impacts of policies and projects, and implementing public information communication campaigns. The position will be remote within the State of California but may require occasional travel to various locations throughout the state to address specific project needs.

Responsibilities for the Environmental Planner/Regulatory Specialist include:

• Reviewing case histories of LUST sites as requested by the State Water Board to determine consistency with the State Water Board low threat UST case closure policy (LTCP) checklist.
• Producing case closure summaries for cases deemed eligible for closure by lead regulatory agencies, including for military LUST sites.
• Identifying paths to closure for cases that do not meet the criteria for case closure under LTCP.
• Conducting comprehensive reviews of cases identified by the State Water Board for additional review.
• Preparing regulatory communications with LUST site responsible parties, including directive letters, notices of violation, and submittal review letters.
• Review workplans and reports associated with corrective actions conducted at LUST sites for sites identified by the State Water Board.
• Develop effective case management techniques in coordination with State and Regional Water Board management.
• Organize, facilitate, and attend meetings with UST Program stakeholders to address program issues and concerns.
• Review State and Regional Water Board files, local regulatory agency files, and available parcel information to determine who can be considered a potentially responsible party (PRP).
• Conduct outreach to responsible parties to explain their obligations and work collaboratively to identify sources of funding and a path forward.
• Coordinate with the State Water Board Office of Enforcement on cases where the RP has been recalcitrant in response to regulatory directives.
• Ensure the State Water Board's GeoTracker Database records for cases assigned by the State Water Board are complete and update them as necessary.
• Request file reviews and scan relevant documents at local regulatory agencies.
• Compile tracking spreadsheets and draft documents for outreach materials.
• Develop progress reports and provide regular updates on program accomplishments.

Minimum Basic Requirements for Skills, Experience, Education and Credentials for the Environmental Regulatory Specialist include:

• Bachelor's degree in environmental/civil engineering, chemistry, geology, biology, environmental science, or related field is required; a Master's degree is preferred.
• Ability to develop strategies to correct problems, coordinate with appropriate personnel and (where appropriate) determine the need for an environmental study of the problem.
• A minimum of 10 years relevant prior work experience
• Ability to develop productive working relationships with State and local agencies.
• Ability to effectively communicate policy, regulations, and technical issues with a variety of audiences both verbally and in writing.
• Self-starter that takes initiative.
• Strong MS Office skills.

Additional Preferred Skills, Experience, Education and Credentials for the Environmental Regulatory Specialist include:

• Prior work experience dealing with UST cleanup in California is preferred.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, balancing multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Detail-oriented and well organized.
• Strong verbal communication skills and a high level of professionalism.
• Excellent writing, computer, and internet skills, including use of spreadsheets. Advanced use of MS Excel preferred.

Physical demands:

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this assignment.
• While performing the duties of the job, the employee is occasionally required to: walk; sit; use hands to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• The work is primarily sedentary in nature with about 10-15% of the time being spent in the field and the remaining time will be spent in the office.
• During the course of conducting field work, the employee may be required to wear personal protection equipment, including head, eyes and ear protection, work clothes, safety footwear, and gloves.
• The noise level in the work environment may vary from typical office background to noise found in working out in the field which can require hearing protection.