The Environmental Protection Specialist is responsible for the VA's Green Environmental Management System (GEMS) program which deals with the environmental impact of human activities on air, land, water, and other media. ** Relocation/Recruitment incentive maybe authorized to a highly qualified candidate**

Duties

The GEMS program is designed to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations governing air emissions, hazardous materials, non-hazardous and hazardous waste, oil spills, water quality, and the storage of regulated substances (e.g. petroleum products, chemicals, and wastes), among other areas, and to alleviate the adverse impacts of human activities on the environment. Specific duties include: Plans and implements compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Conducts site inspections, collects data, reviews documents, analyzes evidence, and evaluates results. Reports on results of site inspections and recommends corrective actions or procedures for compliance. Completes permits and leads facility self-assessments, inspections, and other environmental investigations. Administers the Green Environmental Management System (GEMS) program and is responsible for management of GEMS activities and internal reporting. Applies and interprets existing policies to eliminate known environmental hazards and disseminates applicable guidelines. Analyzes potential hazards and adapts established techniques and methods to adequately measure risks to employees. Interprets a variety of environmental management circumstances and adapts environmental protection techniques to control, minimize or eliminate hazardous situations. Advises senior management on environmental programs and recommends changes in the design of work programs to meet environmental requirements. Interacts with federal, state, and local environmental agencies with respect to facility environmental issues. Schedules and leads environmental audits to identify and evaluate program implementation and compliance activities. Ensures compliance with federal, state, and local regulations governing air emissions, hazardous materials, non-hazardous and hazardous waste, oil spills, water quality and the storage of regulated substances. Trains other employees on a variety of subjects related to specific and specialized environmental topics. Adapts various available media to fit special and unique training requirements. Participates in the development of novel or innovative environmental training and promotion activities. Participates in the facility GEMS committee. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Environmental Protection Specialist (GEMS Coordinator)/PD13017ORelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Maybe authorized to a highly qualified candidate. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, facility applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement. Non-facility applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of the announcement02/12/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one (1) full year of experience equivalent to the GS-9 level in Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Examples of specialized experience for this position would include: Experience in positions that required specialized knowledge of the principles, practices, and methods of program or administrative work relating to environmental protection program(s); applies specialized knowledge of one or more program or functional areas of environmental protection work; experience demonstrating understands environmental laws and regulations, knowledge of how to plan, organize, implement, and evaluate environmental programs, practical knowledge of environmental sciences and related disciplines, and the relationship between environmental factors and human health and well-being, and interpreting a variety of environmental management circumstances and adapt proven environmental protection techniques to control, minimize or eliminate hazardous situations. -OR-- Substitution of Education for Experience GS-11: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related to the Environmental Protection Specialist position, obtained in an accredited college or university which may be substituted for specialized experience to qualify for this grade 11 position. One year of full-time graduate education is the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study. If the number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Transcripts Required- Failure to provide transcripts may cause loss of consideration. --OR-- Combination of Experience and Education GS-11: Equivalent combinations of education at the Ph.D. level and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Environmental Protection Specialist position, which may be used to meet the experience requirements for this GS-11 position. For example, nine (9) months of appropriate specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 (75 percent of the experience requirement for GS-11) and 2 ½ years of successfully completed graduate level education (50 percent of the required education, i.e., the applicant has ½ year of graduate study beyond that required for the GS-09), would exceed the total requirement and be qualified for the GS-11 position. NOTE: Only education in excess of 2 full years of progressively higher -level graduate education may be used to qualify at the GS-11 level. Transcripts Required and resume must support your specialized experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:Administration and ManagementComplianceEnvironmental EngineeringPlanning and Evaluating 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work includes frequent audits of waste storage areas and involves a good deal of walking, standing, bending, and climbing. Working Environment: During audits and inspections, there is regular exposure to all the hazards and discomforts to which the workers are subjected. This may include toxic chemicals, physical stresses, and safety hazards. The employee must use a variety of protective equipment and clothing. This position in NOT SUITABLE for Telework. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 820 South Damen Avenue Chicago, IL 60612 US
• Name: Joyce Ruffin
• Phone: 414-384-2000 X40575
• Email: [email protected]