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NEPA Planner

Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
This job announcement has closed

Summary

Three (3) positions are located within Region 5, Pacific Southwest Region. See "Additional Information" for specific duty locations and contact information. To be considered for either location you must select the locations you are interested in at the time of application.

The position is responsible for performing work involved in Natural Resources Planning and Environmental law compliance, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Overview

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Hiring complete
Open & closing dates
08/31/2021 to 09/13/2021
Salary
$53,433 to - $64,649 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Locations
3 vacancies in the following locations:
Camino, CA
Pioneer, CA
Pollock Pines, CA
Solvang, CA
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional travel may be required to attend training, meetings, and project related work.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
11
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
21-R5-GVA-11218001-DP-JO
Control number
612593100

Duties

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  • Ensure National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents conform to applicable law, regulation, and policy.
  • Analyze environmental data to measure and evaluate the effects of management proposals on natural, social, or economic resources.
  • Conduct environmental studies and evaluations concerning a variety of resources, such as social economics, land, air, water, timber, recreation, wildlife, and fisheries.
  • Lead interdisciplinary teams carrying out routine environmental studies and evaluations to determine the consequences of various actions or events, i.e., forest planning project, on the environment.
  • Serve as the point of contact for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) activities when conducting public involvement efforts.
  • Coordinate with natural resource specialists to analyze information used in formulating specific components of natural resource project plans.
  • Gather subject matter documents and include the required information in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) source document.
  • Write and/or review reports of scientific or technical data to support natural resource planning and/or project management.
  • Write environmental analyses, assessments, and environmental impact statements.
  • Assist others in the development and processing of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service or exempt.
  • Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
  • Successful completion of one-year probationary period, unless previously served.
  • Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
  • Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit E-Verify.

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

Basic Requirement:
GS-0401:
Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position.
OR
Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below.

Specialized Experience Requirement:
For the GS-09: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level. Examples include: Participated in categorical exclusions, environmental assessments and drafting segments of environmental impact statements; Assisted in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning and review process by performing field inspections and collecting, analyzing or reviewing environmental data; Assisted in planning one or more conventional environmental resources projects;
OR a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related;
OR an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level). The education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

For the GS-11: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 grade level. Examples include: Participated in natural resource management activities by making observations, gathering data, and reporting findings where information was used in categorical exclusions, environmental assessments and environmental impact statements; Participated in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning and review process or identified regulatory compliance issues and requirements by performing field inspections and collected, analyzed or reviewed environmental data; Served as a project planner for one or more conventional environmental resources projects;
OR have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (coursework directly related to position being filled);
OR an appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.).Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

See Qualifications section for Educational Requirements.

Additional information

Three (3) positions are being filled.
One (1) position on the Los Padres National Forest in Solvang, CA. If you have any questions, please contact Kyle Kinports at 805-245-9967or kyle.kinports@usda.gov
Two (2) positions on the Eldorado National Forest.
If you have any questions about the Pollock Pine, CA location contact Dionne Uzes at760-549-9066 or dionne.uzes@usda.gov
If you have any questions about the Camino, CA OR Pioneer, CA locations contact Rick Hopson at 530-957-0330 or richard.hopson@usda.gov

Final determination of duty station will be made by the selecting official at the time of job offer. To be considered for any of these positions, be sure to select the locations you are interested in at the time of application.

Salary wage as shown is for Rest of the U.S. For more information, refer to the Office of Personnel Management,Salary and Wages web page.

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), Reemployment Priority List (RPL), or Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL/ICTAP candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP/ICTAP eligibles must meet the agency's definition for a quality candidate as provided in the How You Will Be Evaluated section of this announcement to be considered.

The USDA Forest Service has legislative authority to recruit and fill Permanent (Career/Career-Conditional), Temporary, and Term Appointments under the USDA Demonstration Project. Under this authority, any U.S. citizen may apply.

This position is being concurrently announced under Merit Promotion Announcement Number 21-R5-GVA-11214999-G-JO. Current or former Federal employees or other eligible applicants may apply to both announcements to expand all possibilities of consideration since different referral criteria apply to each type of announcement. See the above announcement for more information.

If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.

This is a bargaining unit designated position.

Government Housing is not available

Daycare facilities are not available


This position may be eligible to telework up to four days per week, based upon the duties of the position. This position may also be eligible for flexible work arrangements as determined by agency policy and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional information is available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-and-leave-flexibilities-for-recruitment-and-retention/

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications.

You will be evaluated in accordance with the category rating procedure as defined in the USDA Demonstration Project Plan. Applicants who meet the basic minimum qualification requirements established for the position will be placed in the Eligible category. You will be further evaluated against criteria for placement in the Quality category. This evaluation is based on the level of your experience, education, and/or training as determined by your responses to the Assessment Questionnaire. Individuals with veterans' preference are listed ahead of applicants who do not have veterans' preference within each category.

Note: If, after reviewing your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that you have inflated your qualifications and or experience, your score may be adjusted to more accurately reflect your abilities, or you may be found ineligible. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Providing inaccurate information on Federal documents could be grounds for non-selection or disciplinary action up to including removal from the Federal service.

To view the application form, visit: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/11218001

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