Overview

  • Open & closing dates

     11/19/2020 to 12/03/2020

  • Service

    Competitive

  • Pay scale & grade

    GS 14

  • Salary

    $118,099 to $153,527 per year

  • Appointment type

    Temporary Promotion – Temporary Promotion not-to-exceed 5 years.

  • Work schedule

    Full-Time

Apply here: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/584900300

Duties

Summary

This position is in Region 10, Superfund and Emergency Management Program, Remedial Cleanup Branch.  If selected, you must work at the location stated in this announcement.  About Region 10:  EPA Region 10

Responsibilities

You will:

  • Determine appropriate cleanup actions, methods, and tools for toxic and hazardous waste sites.
  • Direct contractual work efforts in cases where EPA must assume the cleanup duties to assure that federal funds are properly expended and that contractors are utilized effectively and efficiently.
  • Serve as a senior resource for complex site situations that involve toxic and hazardous waste cleanup.
  • Participate in, lead, or monitor enforcement activities.
  • Perform community relations activities within a public forum as a representative of the agency.

Travel Required

Occasional travel – You may be required to travel up to 25% of each month.

Supervisory status

No

Promotion Potential

14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • If you are selected, a pre-employment background check is required.
  • You must submit a resume and required documents–see How to Apply section.
  • Position has education requirements–see Qualifications/Education section.
  • You must be a U.S. citizen.
  • Pre-employment drug testing is required and random testing thereafter.
  • You may have limited exposure to hazardous materials.
  • You will be required to lift items weighing up to 50 pounds.
  • EPA and non-EPA applicants must submit transcripts/course listings.

You will be required to obtain (before coming on board) and maintain a valid driver’s license and must be able to operate a Government-owned or leased motor vehicle.

Participation in the medical monitoring program is required.

This position requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

This position is designated as Moderate Risk and requires a background investigation.  Unless an appropriate background investigation is already on record with the Office of Personnel Management, you must undergo a background investigation.  All conditions of the pre-employment security process must be met before an official letter of employment can be issued with a report for duty date.

You must meet time in grade requirements no later than 30 calendar days after the closing date of this announcement.

Qualifications

In addition to the educational requirements, we are looking for at least one year of specialized experience related to this position as described below:

To qualify for the GS-14 level, you need to have at least one year of full-time experience equivalent to the GS-13 level defined as determining appropriate cleanup actions, methods, and tools for toxic and hazardous waste sites. Knowledge and/or experience in two of the following; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), the National Contingency Plan (NCP), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Clean Air ACT (CAA), and/or Federal Facility Compliance Act (FFCA), Base Closure and Realignment Issues (BRAC).

Your application package will be used to evaluate your competencies in the following areas:

  • Knowledge of concepts, principles and practices of biological or physical science or engineering in order to serve as technical authority on all aspects of hazardous waste site cleanup and management.
  • Knowledge and skill in assessing the impact and risk of hazardous and toxic waste on public safety and the environment.
  • Knowledge of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), the National Contingency Plan (NCP), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Clean Air ACT (CAA), Federal Facility Compliance Act (FFCA), Base Closure and Realignment Issues (BRAC), hazardous waste regulations, and other environmental statutes.
  • Skill in establishing goals and assessing progress toward their achievement; and in adjusting work operations and program objectives to meet emergencies, changing programs, objectives, or production requirements within available resources and with minimum sacrifice of quality or quantity of work.
  • Skill in negotiation and persuasion techniques sufficient to explain and justify management’s position, negotiate remedial cleanup responsibility with PRPs, negotiate agreements with federal and non-federal agencies, contractors, PRPs, and industrial firms, and justify persuasively to media and public agency position in Superfund matters.
  • Skill in investigation techniques, analyzing complex situations, problems and legal issues, and making sound decisions based on conclusions.
  • Skill in written communication to prepare case documents, elicit cooperative and constructive responses from negotiating parties, and to prepare reports.

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, religious, 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.

If you have part-time work experience, read this:  EPA Announcement Policies and Procedures.

Education

You need a degree or combination of education and experience as described below to qualify for this position.

A bachelor’s or higher degree from an accredited or pre-accredited college or university in:

0401 – General Natural Resources Management and Biological Sciences Series:

A. Degree: biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. -OR-

B. Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

0800 – Engineering Series:

A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor’s degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. -OR-

B. Combination of education and experience — college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

  1. Professional registration or licensure — Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board’s eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
  2. Written Test — Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
  3. Specified academic courses — Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
  4. Related curriculum — Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor’s degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

1301 – General Physical Science Series:

A. Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics. -OR-

B. Combination of education and experience — education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

For information about accreditation requirements, visit EPA Announcement Policies and Procedures.

Additional information

Are you a Displaced Federal Employee?  If so, please read the Required Documents section and visit the EPA website for additional information: EPA Announcement Policies and Procedures

EPA participates in E-Verify. E-Verify is an Internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that enables participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. For additional information:  EPA Announcement Policies and Procedures.

Except in special circumstances, those new to the federal government will be hired at the starting salary (step 1) of the applicable grade range listed above.

This position is in the bargaining unit.

If you are selected, travel, transportation, and relocation expenses will not be paid by EPA.  Any travel, transportation, and relocation expenses associated with reporting to work in this position will be your responsibility.

Position has portable work and selectee may be authorized to telework after meeting eligibility requirements if approved by the supervisor/manager.

If you are selected, your position may become permanent.