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Environmental Protection Specialist

Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The candidate will be responsible for providing technical guidance concerning all Federal-aid Highway Program environmental programs, activities, and analyses within a State or, as a shared resource in multiple States. 

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
01/25/2024 to 02/14/2024
Salary
$102,163 to - $132,807 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 12
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Trenton, NJ
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—The position may be eligible for telework. This is not a full-time telework position and is not approved as a remote work position.
Travel Required
Occasional travel - Occasional travel is required for field studies and site visits. Performing these duties may involve overnight lodging and/or travel outside the State.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
Yes—Relocation expenses may be authorized for this position.
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - Full Time
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
FHWA.FO-2024-0065
Control number
772301000

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Duties

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The Environmental Protection Specialist:

  • Represents the Division Office and serves as a technical advisor on FHWA policy, laws, regulations, Executive Orders, and directives related to NEPA and FHWA’s project development process.
  • Advises FHWA stakeholders and Federal and State partner agencies on Federal responsibilities and the requirements of NEPA, the Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1500-1508), and FHWA regulations, policies, and guidance.
  • Reviews and/or coordinates the review of NEPA documents and other environmental documentation within the Division Office to ensure compliance with requirements.
  • Conducts field reviews to resolve complex environmental issues/problems and provides technical assistance to the Division Office’s transportation customers.
  • Reviews and/or coordinates the review of NEPA documents and other environmental documentation within the Division Office to ensure compliance with requirements.

The ideal candidate is an entry level to mid-career employee with experience implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and/or other environmental laws, regulations, or policy.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S.Citizen and eligible for consideration.
  • You must meet specialized experience to qualify.
  • Required documents must be submitted by the closing date.
  • Submit application and resume online by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

  • SELECTIVE SERVICE: Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for the Selective Service.
  • BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: You will be required to complete a background/security investigation and meet preliminary requirements prior to onboarding.
  • PCS/RELOCATION/RECRUITMENT: Permanent Change of Station (PCS), Relocation, and Recruitment Incentive authorization varies by position/selection and a service agreement may be required.
  • TIME-IN-GRADE: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.
  • PROBATIONARY PERIOD: You must complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • DEU REQUIREMENTS: Applicants selected under delegated examining procedures may be required to successfully complete a one-year probationary period (unless already completed).
  • GOVERNMENT TRAVEL CARD: This position involves travel.  A government contractor-issued travel card will be issued and must be retained for official business only.
  • WORKING CONDITIONS: Field visits and site visits may involve significant hiking in forested areas and hilly terrain.  There may be occasional exposure to moderate risks during field/site visits. 
  • TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY: This position may be eligible for occasional and/or regularly scheduled telework.  The number of telework days approved will be determined by your immediate supervisor or manager following the agency’s telework policy and guidance. If participating in the telework program, you will be required to sign a telework agreement detailing agency telework policy requirements, working conditions, and expectations for the position.

Qualifications

To meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must meet the specialized experience requirements. You will be asked a few questions as part of your application but make sure to verify how you meet this experience in your resume or you may be deemed ineligible. 

For the GS-12: You must have at least one year of experience, equal or equivalent to the GS-11 grade levelwhich included:

  • Experience applying environmental standards, methods, and practices to assure full implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental laws, regulations or policy (such as Section 4(f) of the DOT Act, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, laws concerning archeology, endangered species, noise impacts, project level Air Quality conformity determinations, or Executive Orders); AND
  • Experience preparing and reviewing environmental documents including, but not limited to Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), Environmental Assessments (EA), Categorical Exclusions (CE), Environmental Assessments, Purpose and Needs Statements, Alternative Analyses, etc.; AND
  • Experience working with other Federal and/or State agencies to advance projects in accordance with NEPA requirements.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies in the following areas:

  1. Compliance
  2. Written Communication
  3. Oral Communication
  4. Decision Making Skills

For all types of consideration, 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.

All applicants must meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Additional information

This announcement may be used to fill additional positions if similar vacancies occur within 90 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.

How you will be evaluated

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

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. If your resume/ application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level. 

To compete with U.S. Citizens:  If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be placed in one of two categories: Qualified and Well Qualified which is based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. Within these categories, applicants eligible for veteran's preference that have provided supporting documents will receive selection priority over non-veterans. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.

To compete with other competitive status government employees: If you meet the qualification requirements, your application will be scored based upon your responses to the vacancy questions. The top rated applications will be reviewed for the quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. If referred, all relevant documents including performance appraisals and awards submitted with your application package will be forwarded to the hiring official for review.

Eligible Federal employees also seeking consideration for noncompetitive reassignment for this position must indicate interest in the assessment. Noncompetitive federal candidates must have competitive status on a SF-50, meet minimum qualifications, have served at the same grade or higher, and held or exceeded the promotion potential of this position.

All applicants:  Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position. The answers you select in the on-line process must be substantiated in your application package.  If upon review, it is determined that your described work history, competencies, and/or supporting documents do not support your answer choices, your application may be updated on your behalf or you may not be referred to the selecting official. Please ensure that your work history provides enough details to support your answers. The Automated Staffing Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating.


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