Environmental Scientist – NEPA

Cherokee Federal•Crane, IN

About The Position

Executes National Environmental Policy Act (`NEPA`) program support for Government clients. Develops technically defensible, legally sufficient environmental documentation and performs compliance reviews for proposed actions, plans, and reports. Coordinates fieldwork, stakeholders, and public involvement to support timely decisions. Provides additional support for wetlands and biological permitting actions that align with NEPA decision-making and project execution.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, Environmental Planning, Environmental Engineering, Biology, Ecology, Natural Resources, or a related field.
0-3 years of relevant experience supporting environmental compliance or `NEPA` documentation and review.
Demonstrated technical writing capability for regulatory decision documents, including impact analysis across multiple environmental resource areas.
Experience conducting site visits/field reconnaissance and synthesizing stakeholder inputs into defensible documentation.
Working knowledge of public involvement requirements and document control practices for Government deliverables.
Direct experience authoring `CATEX` and `EA` documentation (DoD or federal installation experience preferred).
Experience conducting wetland delineations and supporting wetlands permitting/notifications.
Experience supporting biological permitting actions, including Biological Assessments and `ESA` Section 7 consultation (formal and informal).
Experience coordinating or supporting technical studies (wetlands, biological surveys, cultural resources, noise/air/water impact analysis).
Familiarity with cultural resources compliance coordination and qualified archaeological survey standards.
Ability to support projects requiring licensed `PE` coordination for specialized analyses.
Must pass pre-employment qualifications of Cherokee Federal

Responsibilities

Provide technical and program support across the full NEPA lifecycle, including `CATEX`, `EA`, and `EIS` documentation and NEPA compliance reviews for proposed actions, management plans, annual reports, training, and data calls.
Draft technical input for NEPA documents to support legally sufficient determinations under NEPA regulations. Produce clear, well-organized analysis across typical resource areas, including: Purpose and Need; Proposed Action and Alternatives; `FONSI` (when applicable) Setting (geography, climate, location) and Geology (soils/topography) Air Quality; Visual Quality/Aesthetics; Water Resources; Noise Biological Resources (including Threatened and Endangered Species) Hazardous and Toxic Substances; Hazardous Waste Public Services and Utilities; Wetlands Historical and Cultural Resources; Environmental Justice Mitigation analysis, when required
Evaluate impacts of the proposed action and alternatives across all applicable resource categories and document anticipated effects, assumptions, and supporting data.
Conduct site visits of proposed project areas prior to studies and document development; coordinate with NSA Crane tenants and stakeholders to gather required inputs.
Support expected NEPA workload levels, including drafting technical input for approximately 1 `EA` per year, 40 `CATEXs` per year, and completing an average of 200 compliance reviews per year.
Conduct wetlands fieldwork and documentation support, including approximately 5 wetland delineations per year, and integrate results into NEPA analyses and project planning.
Draft technical inputs for wetlands regulatory actions, including approximately 5 wetland notifications and 1 wetland permit per year, ensuring packages are complete, accurate, and aligned with project schedules.
Provide biological permitting support tied to NEPA and project execution, including development of a Biological Assessment and `ESA` Section 7 consultation package (approximately 1 per year).
Draft technical inputs for approximately 5 informal consultation requests per year, coordinating as needed to support timely agency feedback and decision timelines.
Plan and implement public meetings and public involvement actions associated with NEPA, including (with Government approval) coordination with newspapers, required media outlets, and local libraries for document distribution and availability.
Attend Government meetings to review initial tasking concepts and goals, provide status updates, support public notification activities as requested, and brief final documentation to affected personnel. Prepare meeting agendas and minutes when required.
Manage controlled distribution of NEPA deliverables: upload approved NEPA documents to the Crane intranet as directed; ensure hard copies of Draft/Final documents are available at required public locations; produce reproducible originals and internal distribution copies; provide electronic deliverables (including `PDF` format) when required. Do not post or distribute draft/final deliverables to the internet, intranet, or third parties without prior consent of the Government.
Support and/or coordinate required surveys, studies, and data development needed to complete NEPA documents on a case-by-case basis, which may include threatened/endangered species surveys, wetland delineations, analytical sampling, noise modeling, pollution and environmental impact analyses, and traffic/population modeling.
Conduct new field and data gathering when existing information is not sufficient, including sampling and analysis studies, land surveys, cultural resources investigations, and other technical studies or reports.
Ensure archaeological survey support meets all regulatory standards and uses qualified personnel listed with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, when applicable.
Coordinate `PE`-stamped services when required (performed by a licensed Professional Engineer).Performs other job-related duties as assigned