Environmental Protection Specialist

Summary

The Environmental Protection Specialist plans and administers environmental programs that deal with the environmental impacts of human activities on air, land, water, and other media, and are designed to ensure compliance with regulations (federal/local/state) governing air emissions, hazardous materials, non-hazardous/hazardous waste, oil spills, water quality, and the storage of regulated substances, among other areas, and to alleviate the adverse impacts of the activities on the environment.

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Duties

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The Environmental Protection Specialist duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

GEMS COORDINATION:

• Responsible for administering the GEMS program, planning, management, and is responsible for implementation of GEMS activities and internal reporting activities to assure compliance with environmental laws and regulation.
• Completes permits and leads facility self-assessments, inspections, and other environmental investigations.
• Advises senior level management officials within the facility on the status of environmental programs and recommends changes in the design of facility work programs to meet new environmental requirements. The employee serves as a technical expert on issues related to environmental statutes including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Superfund statutes, Toxic Substances Control Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Reviews facility projects, including expansion, renovation, maintenance, closure or construction of structures and infrastructure to determine the effect to the environment. Provides information that will minimize adverse impact to human health and the environment and reduce the VA Medical Center's vulnerability.
• Manages and/or provides technical advice regarding response to environmental emergencies including releases/spills of hazardous material. Interacts with federal, state, and local environmental agencies with respect to facility environmental issues.
• Independently schedules and leads environmental audits to identify and evaluate program implementation and compliance activities. Conducts internal gap analyses of EMS at VAMC.
• Issues reports of gap analyses and tracks status of corrective and preventive actions. Manages computer programs and databases to enhance management of environmental programs.
• Trains other employees and lower grade environmental staff, providing instruction on a variety of subjects related to specific and specialized environmental topics. He/she adapts various available media to fit special and unique training requirements and participates in the development of novel or innovative environmental training and promotion activities.
• The employee participates in the facility GEMS committee.

HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGMENT:

• Implementation of the hazardous waste management program, including conducting or overseeing identification, collection, segregation, packaging and manifesting of hazardous wastes.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday. 8:00am-4:30pm

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Environmental Protection Specialist/ PD20F87O

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/15/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement : Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS 11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: experience with planning, implementing, and evaluating programs, including, but not limited to environmental protection programs; administering or supporting a green environmental management program, or an equivalent program; experience conducting or supporting environmental or regulatory compliance inspections or audits in a healthcare or similar setting to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations; advising or communicating with management or leadership on environmental program, or similar program, status, compliance findings, or corrective action recommendations; conducts the identification, collection, packaging and manifesting of hazardous wastes; preparing reports; and compiling information. OR,
• Education: Applicants must also have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree possess OR 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave : Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.