20537 - Env Planner

Job Description Ensure compliance with state and federal laws, regulations and policy for complex environmental programs and services. Maintain VDOT's compliance in all aspects of program and project delivery. Provide interpretation, analysis, and application as an environmental compliance subject‑matter expert. Provide environmental leadership, technical guidance and assistance by assessing the applicability interdivisional meetings or contributing to interdivisional work products. How You Will Contribute Assigned Programs: Provides coordination and oversight of the assigned environmental programs. Ensures effective execution and continual compliance. Determines improvements and works to execute approved changes to benefit the agency. Communication: Responds to legislative, local government, citizen, consultant and other concerns with regard to VDOT's environmental compliance. Document Preparation: Coordinates with others to provide schedule and estimate of environmental deliverables, including NEPA and SERP documents to project manager. Ensures all project documentation and files are available electronically to support administrative records, requests schedule revisions, and maintains CEDAR project files. Advocates options to design engineers for avoidance or minimization and identifies mitigation alternatives. Ensures document deliverables are reviewed for content and legal sufficiency per current Environmental Division policy before distribution, consolidates input from environmental section members, and presents findings to project teams. Local Assistance and Project Delivery Assistance: Provides oversight and assistance to VDOT’s Locally Administered Project (LAP) program. Attends meetings, compiles and provides the Environmental Scoping Recommendations form, and offers technical environmental guidance to ensure applicant regulatory compliance for Enhancements or LAPs. Coordinates with staff developing LAPs and with VDOT SMEs. Other Deliverables: Ensures deliverables are reviewed for content and legal sufficiency, compiles environmental commitments on project assignments in CEDAR, distributes them to other divisions as appropriate, and manages time to accomplish work tasks within established deadlines. Program Analysis: Analyzes proposed and existing environmental law, regulation, and guidance to determine its impact on VDOT operations, facilitating VDOT compliance with law and regulation. Reviews and analyzes law, regulation, bills and proposed rules and determines impact on VDOT. Statewide Projects: Handles Divisional issues with statewide impact such as workload planning, General Assembly impact statements, audit coordination, special programs, etc. Technical Consultation: Provides technical advisory subject matter expertise for assigned programs and may develop and deliver training for assigned programs and projects to various stakeholders. Technical Guidance: Provides professional technical expertise and guidance, represents and coordinates written responses for internal coordination, communicates with other VDOT districts or divisions, notifies other environmental areas of plan availability, identifies environmental risks, manages unplanned changes, coordinates studies, and ensures plans address previous comments. Researches and reviews environmental study-related public relations and complaints, and ensures all complaint and inquiry responses are reviewed before distribution and maintained in a master file. What Will Make You Successful Ability to analyze and interpret data. Ability to communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing, including preparing and delivering presentations regarding construction projects and environmental impacts. Ability to effectively coordinate consultant activities. Ability to effectively negotiate solutions to environmental obstacles. Ability to plan, organize, and work on multiple technical projects and tasks concurrently. Ability to read and interpret project plans, contracts, special provisions, laws, regulations, and environmental program and project documents. Ability to work with project managers to avoid, minimize, and mitigate environmental impacts on projects. Demonstrated experience solving problems effectively and making decisions. Demonstrated interpersonal relationship skills. Experience planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating programs. Knowledge of a broad range of environmental issues, and of communicating with a broad range of state and federal environmental agencies and specialists. Knowledge of and ability to interpret state and federal environmental laws, regulations, policies, programs, and procedures related to transportation project development and implementation. Knowledge of and experience performing technical environmental analysis and compiling analytical results to include environmental impact analysis. Knowledge of environmental processes with an ability to assess how proposed actions may impact or be mitigated by proposed project plans. Knowledge of project planning, construction alternative analysis and coordination procedures and practices. Knowledge of the NEPA process and its role in transportation project development. Negotiation and management skills. Skill in the use of computers and various software applications. Minimum Qualifications Skilled in computers, including spreadsheet and database software. Ability to build rapport and convey technical information in a format easily understood by a diverse group. Ability to effectively negotiate solutions to environmental obstacles. Ability to read and interpret project plans, contracts, special provisions, laws and regulations, and environmental program and project documents. Ability to work as a team member or leader of inter‑disciplinary teams under the pressure of deadlines. Knowledge and experience performing technical environmental analysis and compiling reports of analytical results to include environmental impact analysis. Knowledge of environmental laws, regulations, policies, programs, and procedures relative to transportation. Knowledge of transportation project development practices involving planning, traffic, design, right of way, and construction. Valid driver's license. Additional Considerations A combination of training, experience, or education in Environmental Science, Natural Science, Forestry, Vegetation Management, Biology, Ecology, Hydrology, Hydraulics, Cultural Resources, Urban Planning or related field desired. Experience preparing NEPA documents for highway projects evaluating the impact of development projects on the environment. Experience preparing NEPA or Section 4(f) documents, including but not limited to Categorical Exclusions. Experience with GIS or other mapping and data analytics software. Progressively responsible experience in professional-level environmental technical programs, planning, and engineering. Equal Opportunity & Code of Conduct Equal Opportunity Employer. VDOT employees must abide by VDOT's Code of Ethics and the Commonwealth's Standards of Conduct. #J-18808-Ljbffr Virginia Department of Transportation