ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST 3

***THIS RECRUITMENT MAY CLOSE WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED. APPLICANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE***

Job Summary

The mission of the Division of Environmental Protection is to preserve and enhance the environment of the State in order to protect public health, sustain healthy ecosystems, and contribute to a vibrant economy. The almost 300 members of our team work together to ensure that Nevada's communities have safe water to drink, healthy air to breathe, and a safe secure environment to enjoy. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Quality Planning, is seeking qualified applicants for an Environmental Scientist III position in Carson City, NV. This position is in the Standards, Assessment, and Monitoring Branch. This Branch is responsible for monitoring surface water quality, assessment and reporting of surface water quality, and development of Standards to Protect Designated Uses on surface waters of the State. Specific duties include conducting chemical, physical, and biological monitoring of surface water throughout the State according to established quality assurance/quality control protocols. Travel for fieldwork can be multi-day as sampling locations are often remote. Working conditions may be variable including changing weather conditions, exposure to wildlife, and traveling long distances through rugged terrain by 4WD and/or hiking. Incumbent is required to operate and perform sampling in watercraft during lake and reservoir sampling. Additional duties include reviewing water quality standards and drafting regulatory petitions to add new or revise existing surface water quality standards; assessing Nevada’s surface waters to determine support of beneficial uses and development of Nevada’s 303(d)/305(b) Integrated Report; analyzing data and writing technical reports to support regulation changes; conducting data analysis and preparing various reports and technical papers required under the Clean Water Act; and other duties as assigned. Incumbent is required to work with computers, databases, spreadsheets, GIS, and perform data analysis.

Environmental Scientists perform program research, planning and development, permitting, compliance monitoring, inspections/enforcement, and technical support services in relation to air, water, federal facilities, corrective action, mining, biology and waste environmental programs.

Essential Qualifications

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in the physical, natural resource or life sciences, engineering or closely related field and three years of professional environmental experience which involved environmental program research and planning; OR graduation from high school or equivalent and five years of professional environmental experience as described above; OR one year of experience as an Environmental Scientist 2 in Nevada State service; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience as described above.

Job Duties

Develop program documents such as the annual program plan, quarterly activities report, environmental assessments, technical reports and environmental impact statements in accordance with federal and State requirements; review existing program standards; research, compile and verify available data; analyze data and trends including the projected impact of federal, State and local regulations; propose new or revised standards; develop regulations, procedures and protocols and draft legislation; provide information and technical assistance to the general public and regulated community; develop and provide training to staff and the regulated community; prepare various reports as required for planning or in response to requests from the legislature, general public, regulated community, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) administration; conduct public hearings; justify with fact sheets and discussion as required.

Conduct research through the use of technical, scientific and historical data to provide a tool for administrative and resource planning and decision making; coordinate with other agencies involved in the implementation of environmental programs; represent the division or agency at various meetings involving federal, State and local regulatory and resource agencies, the public, non-governmental organizations and the regulated community; participate in federal, State and local policy and regulation development.

Develop grant applications, proposals for performance, grant workplans, budgets and applications using federal and State policies and procedures; negotiate commitments with federal, State and local agencies; solicit project proposals; negotiate workplans and draft contract documents and required amendments; monitor grant performance, expenditures and contracts.

Develop and draft permits for industry and governmental entities; compile facility data; examine and adapt the permit to applicable standards; establish limitations; review permits for regulatory compliance; perform public permit notification and final permit issuance.

Perform compliance monitoring; analyze submitted environmental reports in relation to technical, scientific and legal criteria and make recommendations to ensure compliance; take periodic samples according to established protocol and transport to appropriate laboratories; operate various monitoring equipment; evaluate new and existing sample sites for usefulness.

Respond to environmental complaints through investigation, determination of complaint validity and determination of appropriate action to be taken.

Conduct inspections to ensure compliance with federal, State and local regulations; inspect pollution control equipment; take or observe others taking samples; determine whether violations are occurring; make a detailed report and recommendation to the appropriate entity; determine appropriate enforcement action to be initiated; prepare notices of violation; meet with the regulated community, potentially responsible parties and attorneys to present findings and negotiate resolutions, administrative settlements and civil penalties; give depositions, testify in court as required and serve as the State's expert witness in lawsuits and other court matters.

Perform various technical services required to carry out any of the above-mentioned duties, including calculating pollutant concentrations, calibrating a variety of sampling equipment and preparing monitoring sites.

Input and access data to and from a national data system maintained by the EPA in accordance with federal grant requirements; perform computer modeling using computer programs to manipulate data; evaluate environmental data and make decisions based on this information.

Incumbents are primarily responsible for the complex planning, enforcement, contract coordination, pollution prevention, monitoring and/or permitting functions within a program area (e.g., air pollution) and may provide work direction to lower-level staff. Incumbents perform work assignments independently and are accountable for the final work product; work is reviewed through progress reports and meetings and as the need arises when unusual circumstances occur.

Perform related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

This class specification lists the major knowledge, skills and abilities of the job and is not all inclusive. Incumbent(s) will be expected to have knowledge, skills and abilities from a previous level.

Working knowledge of: legal procedures related to the enforcement of pollution control, if applicable to the position; EPA and other federal and State grant requirements.

Ability to: effectively communicate technical, scientific, environmental, regulatory and legal information verbally and in writing to subordinates, individuals and groups with varying backgrounds; evaluate potential radiological, chemical and/or biological hazards and determine proper actions to safeguard individual and public safety; recognize existing or potential problems which require communication to higher level management; act as a lead worker to organize, oversee and delegate work responsibilities; independently establish priorities which accurately reflect the relative importance of job responsibilities; interpret and enforce department and division policies and rules; draft complete, accurate and legally defensible enforcement/mitigation action and programmatic documents and effectively implement enforcement/mitigation action procedures; negotiate with the regulated and natural resource community to ensure compliance and resolve issues; analyze complex data and apply concepts to difficult problems.

RECRUITER CONTACT INFORMATION: Jon Terrazas at j.terraza@admin.nv.gov

The State of Nevada is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to building diverse, inclusive, and innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them. All applicants are considered without regard to race, color, national origin, religion or belief, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, domestic partnership, genetic information (GINA), or compensation and/or wages.

Please send direct Inquiries or correspondence to the recruiter listed on this announcement.