Environmental Services Specialist

DEFINITION

To develop, implement, coordinate, and monitor environmental services programs in assigned area of emphasis, such as stormwater permit and Clean Water Act compliance, plan review for compliance with Central Coast Post-Construction requirements, creeks and watershed protection, waste reduction, reuse, recycling, and municipal solid waste management, hazardous materials management and response, field and outreach programs, and to perform a variety of technical tasks relative to assigned area of responsibility; performs other related duties as assigned.

CLASS CHARACTERISTICS

The Environmental Services Specialist is the professional journey level classification in this job series. Incumbents are expected to perform the full range of professional and technical level duties with a high degree of independence. Environmental Services Specialist is distinguished from the Environmental Services Coordinator by the latter's broad responsibility of the development and management of environmental and departmental projects and programs.

The following duties are typical for positions in this classification. Incumbents may not perform all listed job functions, nor are all listed duties necessarily performed by everyone in this class depending upon business need and changing business practices:

1. Support the stormwater plan review program by review of stormwater plans for compliance with Central Coast Post-Construction requirements (PCRs), Resolution R3-2013-0032 (and subsequent resolutions).
2. Support the Phase II Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Program with independent document preparation, research, financial analysis, budgeting and reporting, field inspections, and other requirements from that permit.
3. Support implementation, coordination, and monitoring of solid waste reduction and management programs, such as edible food recovery, organics reuse and recycling, residential and business recycling and related solid waste diversion efforts and all applicable programs regulated by CalRecycle.
4. Support and lead volunteer programs and community outreach efforts.
5. Support and lead field efforts, such as sampling, site inspections, infrastructure inspections, illicit discharge inspections, and all inspections required by the MS4 Permit, PCRs, Construction General Permit (CGP), CalRecycle programs (e.g., AB939 and SB1383).
6. Provide technical assistance to City departments, developers, residential and business customers and local institutions in developing stormwater and solid waste management programs aimed at reducing waste and diverting waste products from the landfill.
7. Provide support and lead tasks related to the City's Creeks and Watersheds Management Program (CWMP)
8. Research trends and practices in other jurisdictions and recommend improvements.
9. Participate in the development of promotional programs and materials for use in the media to increase public awareness of, and participation in, environmental programs.
10. Coordinate with regional bodies, such as the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA), Santa Barbara County Association of MS4 Managers (SBCAMM), Local Task Force on Solid Waste, the Multi-Jurisdictional Solid Waste Task Group; and the CDBG City Planning Group.
11. Support and lead administrative tasks, such as preparation of RFPs, proposal preparation, ordinance preparation, staff reports, invoices, procurement and more.
12. Conduct data analysis for various programs to make recommendations for process or program improvement, or to solve technical or logistical issues.
13. Support tasks and programs related to other ad-hoc environmental issues, such as hazardous materials management/disposal, cleanup activities, water resources, and more.
14. Perform related duties and responsibilities as required.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND TRAINING

• Equivalent to a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in Environmental Studies, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Policy, Geology, Hydrogeology, Engineering, Earth Sciences or a similar field; and experience in stormwater or watershed management. Course work in higher level math (such as statistics, trigonometry, or calculus) is preferred.
• A professional license, or progress toward licensing, in the watershed field, such as a PG, PE, or QSD is preferred.

• Two years of professional level experience working with similar stormwater plan review, watershed programs, NPDES permit compliance, environmental field work, public outreach or similar.

• State and federal laws pertaining to stormwater and watershed management;
• Contract administration;
• Federal, state and local laws, codes and safety regulations;
• Modern office equipment including computers;
• Research methods and standard English usage and grammar.

• Gather and analyze information;
• Perform quantitative computations;
• Learn and participate in the competitive bid process;
• Organize work and the work of others;
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers, representatives of other government agencies, private industry, community groups, and other members of the public;
• Read and comprehend technical information and legislative reports, communicate at a basic level in English, communicate technical information orally and in written form;
• Use a personal computer and job-related software/programs, such as basic web content creation and excel spreadsheets;
• Maintain physical condition appropriate to the performance of assigned duties and responsibilities which may include the following:
  1. Sitting and standing for extended periods of time
  2. Field work and walking long distances with field equipment
  3. Operating equipment
  4. Maintain effective audio-visual discrimination and perception needed for:
  5. Making observations
  6. Communicating with others
  7. Reading and writing
  8. Operating related equipment

The working conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential job functions.

Physical Conditions

Office/field environment - meeting with residential and commercial customers, attending public meetings, interfacing with staff from other City departments.

Environmental Conditions

Essential and marginal functions may require maintaining physical condition necessary for sitting, standing or walking for prolonged periods of time; and operating motorized vehicles. Some work will require heavy lifting, dirty conditions, and sorting or cleaning of waste material. Incumbent may alternate wearing office and field clothes.