tdec-environmental scientist 2

The State of Tennessee is hiring a full-time Environmental Scientist 2 in Cookeville, TN. The role involves conducting professional environmental work, investigating complaints, analyzing data, preparing reports, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Responsibilities include monitoring environmental standards, drafting technical documents, and providing technical advice. Decision-making and problem-solving skills are essential for addressing environmental issues and supporting regulatory actions.
The State of Tennessee is hiring an Environmental Scientist 2 in Cookeville, TN. This full-time role involves conducting professional environmental work, including investigating complaints, analyzing data, preparing reports, and ensuring compliance with regulations. Responsibilities include monitoring environmental standards, drafting technical documents, and serving as a technical advisor. The position requires decision-making and problem-solving skills to address environmental issues and support regulatory actions.
Job Information
Environmental Scientist 2 Job Information

Location: Cookeville, TN

Department: Environment and Conservation

Job Type: Full-Time
Summary

Under general supervision, performs a wide variety of professional environmental work of average difficulty.
Responsibilities
• Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others:
• Investigates complaints; develops corrective recommendations for identified problems, and if necessary, initiates legal action to effect compliance of established standards, laws, rules, regulations, or policies.
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems:
• Determine the validity and severity of an incident and appropriate response.
• Analyzes available information and makes recommendations to ensure the best solution is chosen to meet regulatory, project, and/or stakeholders' needs.
• Determines validity and severity of violation(s) and if an enforcement action is warranted.
• Review plans and reports to determine future regulatory actions.
• Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others:
• Interprets findings, results, (i.e. site inspections, permits, lab results, etc.) and communicates interpretation of regulations, policy, guidance to stakeholders.
• Prepare various publications, reports, technical documents, maps and plans.
• Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment:
• Prepares documentation (such as permits, designs, layout, blueprints, soil evaluations, etc.), in a concise and defensible manner, to ensure missions are met.
• Processing Information:
• Compile legally defensible environmental documents.
• Compiles, processes, and reviews records, data, operational plans, enforcement action requests, reports, etc.
• Reviews Quality Assurance/Quality Control parameters, specific to and required by acceptable methodologies, to ensure they are performed with each data set.
• Prepare statistical/metric reports for aquatic, terrestrial, and wetland evaluations.
• Analyzing Data or Information:
• Prepare plans, maps or reports of findings relating to health and environmental data.
• Analyze environmental and/or other information, such as monitoring records, site inspections, sampling data to determine if further action is necessary and to evaluate trends.
• Assist in developing standards.
• Analyze environmental data using mathematical and statistical methods.
• Interpret analytical results to determine data quality and usability.
• Review plans to ensure protection of human health and the environment.
• Performs laboratory or field tests based specific sample requirements.
• Perform studies of environmental pollution or ionizing radiation and any socioeconomic effects.
• Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings:
• Performs environmental or health investigations, remediation, and/or monitoring work, including sampling and evaluation of pollutants to determine compliance with environmental or other standards.
• Serve as a technical advisor to emergency responders for incidents/accidents.
• Coordinates and serves as technical lead for projects.
• Reviews monitoring data to determine permit compliance, environmental standards and/or ecological conditions.
• Comply with safe handling, storage and disposal procedures for samples, laboratory reagents and other chemicals.
• Verify expiration dates of chemicals and supplies, disposing of expired materials as required by safety rules and regulations.
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards:
• Perform inspections and/or investigations when required by a specific TDEC program area such as air pollution, water resources, remediation, underground storage tanks, solid waste management, radiological health, natural areas, etc., to determine compliance with laws, regulations, or standards.
• Enforce environmental or other standards, laws, rules, regulations, and/or administrative policies and procedures, taking corrective action as warranted.
• Determines if documents (i.e., permits, applications, National Environmental Policy Act, licenses, accreditations and certifications, etc.) may be approved by reviewing and evaluating information submitted by applicant or acquired by site inspections and/or other informative sources used for determining minimum environmental or other compliance with established standards.
• Ensures statutory obligations are fulfilled.
• Oversee environmental sampling and/or investigations to assure that acceptable procedures are followed.
• Reviews and evaluates applications, forms, plans, inspection documents, general correspondence, reports or other records to ensure technical adequacy.
• Adheres to requirements specified in Standard Operating Procedures and any applicable federal and/or state standards.
• Compares environmental and/or health related data to applicable criteria.
• Audits third party inspections of facilities to determine compliance with regulatory standards.
• Assesses fees based on the regulatory standards.
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material:
• Conduct inspections of equipment, structures and/or material, to ensure proper installation, maintenance, and/or operation.
• Interacting With Computers:
• Possesses general knowledge and utilizes computer software including but not limited to: statistical programs, scientific instruments, modeling, Geographic Information System (GIS), databases, word processing, spreadsheets, email, etc.
• Generate reports and documents utilizing contemporary computer software.
• Provide Consultation and Advice to Others:
• Provide technical expertise in handling events involving radiation and radioactive material, including transportation, and industrial incidents as well as natural catastrophes.
• Provide consultative, technical, or educational services to industry, municipalities, counties, individuals, or groups in the necessity and methodology of enhancing environmental stewardship, health or other standards, practices, and safety.
• Update regulatory information to stakeholders.
• Getting Information:
• Conducts, observes and/or oversees environmental or health surveys, sampling, inventories or monitoring, testing, including site evaluations.
• Perform regulatory and other research in order to stay current with local, state, and federal standards and procedures.
• Searches for and/or identifies entities or locations that should be regulated and inform those that need to be brought into compliance.
• Obtains and receives records, data, operational plans, enforcement action requests, survey information, etc.
• Performing General Physical Activities:
• Collect environmental samples and/or monitoring data (e.g., soil, rock, air, water, sediment, sludge, biological), under physically demanding conditions.
• Perform physical activities, such as walking (i.e. ditches, uneven terrain, etc.), wading in water, climbing, lifting (such as coolers, generators, etc.), operating field equipment (backpack shockers, augers, core samplers, or probes), etc.
• Operates, carries or handles equipment/machinery unassisted that may weigh up to 50 pounds.
• Performs physically demanding, ecologically-based stewardship and natural resource management on state natural areas, (utilizing equipment, such as backpack sprayer, chainsaw, bush hog, lawnmower, tractor, etc. in the management of rare species habitat, controlled fire, trail maintenance, boundary maintenance, invasive species control, etc.)
• Selling or Influencing Others:
• Build consensus among internal and/or external stakeholders in order to further TDEC's missions and goals.
• Documenting/Recording Information:
• Prepares and maintains complete and accurate records, reports, logs, databases, chain-of-custody and correspondence based on established guidelines and procedures.
• Maintains records of observations made during field evaluations to document data collection, ambient site conditions, and the location of the evaluation.
• Documents all relevant work activities, contacts, and meetings.
• Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment:
• Maintains, repairs and calibrates electronic equipment, such as radiation detection meter, photo ionization detector, pH meter, GPS, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) as needed.
• Communicating with Persons Outside Organization:
• Provide expert testimony for legal hearings and proceedings.
• Participates and/or leads compliance review meetings with stakeholders to achieve compliance with regulations.
• Explain the validity and severity of incidents to governmental agencies and other stakeholders.
• Communicate findings in applicable approval letters, notice of deficiencies, notice of violations, license or amendment agreement or enforcement action requests.
• Ensures all customers are serviced in a timely, professional and knowledgeable manner so as to meet the mission.
• Provide high-quality outreach, including design, distribution of information, and technical assistance to stakeholders.
• Uses tools, such as GIS, to inform and educate stakeholders and to improve or maintain environmental resources.
• Coordinate with stakeholders for consultations, meetings, workshops and joint projects.
• Participate in public participation opportunities as assigned.
• Monitoring and Controlling Resources:
• Ensures contractors' proposed work activities comply with established rates and/or approved scope of work.
• Provide technical oversight, review, and/or project management of ongoing state and/or federal grant/loan programs.
• Scheduling Work and Activities:
• Participate in a required on-call rotation to respond to incidents/accidents as assigned.
• Manages or assists in managing state programs including certifying officials/professionals; coordination and training; records management; and federal reporting requirements (e.g. the ginseng program, asbestos, lead based paint, etc.).
• Schedules assigned work to address compliance monitoring inspections, complaints and/or investigations, tasks, directives, correspondence, laboratory activities, biological surveys, etc.
• Training and Teaching Others:
• Train other staff, in the proper methods and procedures for performing environmental work as requested.
• Provides training to stakeholders who may require specific knowledge.
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment:
• Operates personal or assigned vehicles (such as, but not limited to watercraft, all-terrain vehicles, tractors, etc.), in accordance with agency policy and procedures, as well as all traffic laws.
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work:
• Develop work and study plans to identify specific goals and activities to ensure proper distribution of the workload.
• Organizes, plans and prioritizes work to ensure completion by a given deadline or other time constraint.
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment:
• Maintains, repairs, and/or calibrates mechanical equipment, such as ozone monitor, air monitoring, laser level and watercrafts as needed.
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships:
• Work with other agencies and organizations to ensure that operational and programmatic activities receive early concurrence and input from regional and statewide authorities.
• Works harmoniously with and ensures healthy relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Relate observations, conclusions, and opinions to co-workers/internal customers in a respectful and professional manner.
• Performing for or Working Directly with the Public:
• Schedules, attends, observes, and/or participates in public meetings or public outreach, as required.
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge:
• Fulfill established educational, training, and safety requirements.
• Keeps up-to-date with technical developments, standard operating procedures and regulations and applies new knowledge to the job.
• Seek opportunities for professional development within and outside of the agency.
• Performing Administrative Activities:
• Drafts and/or develops documents for review and signature within the required timeframe.
• Enter time and leave within the designated computer program in a proper and timely manner.
• Ensures all information is properly filed.
• Recognizes and coordinates interpretation or translation services, as needed.
• Complete required documentation for travel and/or field use of vehicle (e.g. mileage logs, travel time, vehicle inspection checklist).
• Distribute documents to appropriate parties to ensure proper routing.
• Ensures files are managed according to the Records Disposition Authorization.
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates:
• Provide relevant, effective and routine written or verbal communication to supervisors or peers.
• Advise management about work issues of concern as they occur.
• Disseminate information as appropriate within the agency.
• Recognizes, provides, and communicates potential areas of improvement.

TN Driver Standards
• A valid driver's license
• For the past five years, the candidate's driver record must not have record of the following violations: driving under the influence (DUI), reckless driving, license suspension for moving violations, more than 4 moving violations.