ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ENGINEER I (UMP)

State of Illinois•Springfield, IL

9d•$6,540 - $7,480•Hybrid

About The Position

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Bureau of Land, Division of Remediation Management, Federal Site Remediation Section (FSRS) is hiring an Environmental Protection Engineer I to perform beginning-level work on environmental investigations and remedial response projects conducted under CERCLA (Superfund). The role emphasizes training and professional development to support increasingly independent work. The engineer will observe and participate in planning and carrying out field investigations, remedial designs, and remedial actions with engineers, geologists, and scientists from Illinois EPA and other state and federal agencies, as well as responsible parties. The position is based at the agency’s Springfield headquarters, with reporting to headquarters as operational needs require. The listed schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a one-hour lunch; the agency describes a 37½-hour work week. The position requires travel and participation in a medical monitoring program. Employment is subject to a background check and completion of 40-hour OSHA training within 90 days of employment, with an annual eight-hour refresher and applicable certification or maintained working knowledge. The position is in the Upward Mobility Program and is represented by a bargaining unit. The agency offers paid vacation, sick and personal leave, holidays, pension and other retirement benefits, tuition reimbursement, and medical, dental, vision, and life insurance eligibility on the first day. The anticipated starting salary is $6,540 per month, with a full range of $6,540–$7,480 per month.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering science or a closely related engineering specialty, or equivalent knowledge, skill, and mental development from four years of college. Listed fields include environmental, civil, general, industrial, mechanical, chemical, public health, electronic, acoustical, or aeronautical engineering, engineering mechanics, and related specialties.
No previous experience is required.
Current and valid driver’s license.
Ability to travel.
Ability to participate in the medical monitoring program.
Complete 40-hour OSHA training within 90 days of employment and maintain the required working knowledge through an eight-hour annual refresher and/or certification.
Ability to pass a name-based background check.

Nice To Haves

At least 30 semester hours of coursework in subjects such as hydrogeology, hydrology, soil mechanics, mechanics of materials, open-channel flow, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, electric circuit theory, statistics, vector mechanics, physics, calculus, differential equations, geophysics, geographic information systems, and engineering economics.
Licensed Professional Engineer.
Two years of experience working on CERCLA deliverables.
Ability to establish and maintain working relationships with municipal officials, facility operators and owners, plant managers, or their representatives, and to interpret pertinent state laws, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures to individuals and municipal bodies.
Working knowledge of modern environmental control systems, facilities, techniques, and procedures, and ability to analyze and interpret scientific data and facility plans.
Working knowledge of state environmental protection or pollution-abatement laws, rules, and regulations.
Ability to use a personal computer and Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access; training, education, and experience with GIS and contaminant fate and transport modeling.
Ability to operate field equipment such as cameras, dissolved-oxygen testing and monitoring equipment, sound-level meters, photoionization detectors, real-time gas analyzers, and drilling, sampling, and probing equipment.

Responsibilities

Observe and participate in routine scientific and engineering reviews of sites and facilities and routine on-site inspections for the Bureau of Land and Federal Site Remediation Section.
Receive training and assist higher-level staff in applying Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs), including CERCLA, the National Contingency Plan, the Federal Facilities Compliance Act, the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, Illinois Administrative Code provisions, and other relevant environmental laws, rules, policies, and procedures.
Prepare, for close supervisory review, intra-agency, inter-agency, and third-party scientific and engineering memoranda and correspondence, including scopes of work, work plans, and cost estimates for CERCLA investigations, feasibility studies, decision documents, and design and construction projects.
Receive training and observe and participate in routine on-site inspections involving hazardous-substance investigations; cleanup and remediation-system construction oversight; legacy monitoring for quality assurance and control; groundwater-monitoring well installation and sampling; soil and hazardous-waste sampling; geophysical methods; excavation; groundwater pump-and-treatment systems; on-site treatment alternatives; waste-unit closures; and other remedial construction activities.
Assist with negotiation and implementation of enforcement orders for Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study and Remedial Design/Remedial Action activities.
Attend, observe, and participate in legal hearings and Superfund public-information activities, and interpret relevant laws, rules, policies, and procedures.
Perform other duties as required or assigned that are reasonably within the scope of the position.