Department of Agriculture

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SPECIALIST

Ames, Iowa Full time

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SPECIALIST

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Ames, Iowa

Salary Range: $107301 - $139493 Per Year

Job Summary: This position serves in the Safety and Security Unit (SSU), which is responsible for providing oversight and technical consultation on all environmental, health, safety and security issues with the goal of providing and ensuring a safe and healthful environment for employees and visitors of the National Centers for Animal Health (NCAH).

Major Duties:

  • The duties may include, but are not limited to:
  • Reviews, analyzes, and interprets environmental laws, regulations, standards, policies, guidelines, and Executive Orders to identify current and potential impacts on operations.
  • Serves as the primary NCAH liaison for environmental regulatory issues.
  • Creates and submits to appropriate regulatory agencies environmental permit applications, reports, and plans.
  • Develops Statements of Work to contract for environmental sampling and analysis.
  • Monitors, assesses and maintains records of operational and facility data necessary to prove compliance with environmental regulations and sustainability requirements.
  • Evaluates disposal and discharge requests for environmental regulatory compliance and potential environmental impact.
  • Creates and implements all program elements required to ensure NCAH conformance to the environmental management directives and policies as detailed in federal environmental and greening Executive Orders.
  • Reviews proposed facility construction plans, specifications, and project documents.
  • Develops and provides training in areas of expertise such as spill prevention and environmental management systems to NCAH personnel or others as assigned.

Qualifications: Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below. TIME-IN-GRADE: Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. FOR THE GS-13 LEVEL: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 level) that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates: Creating and submitting environmental permits, applications, reports, or plans. Developing policies and procedures to ensure timely submission of permits, plans, and applications. Developing spill response plans and programs, and responding to hazardous materials spills. Leading or coordinating project teams and directing work of others. Note: There is no education substitution for this grade level. 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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00a.m. - 4:00p.m., Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement in order to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resume cannot exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. Step 1: Create a USAJOBS account (if you do not already have one) at www.usajobs.gov. It is recommended that as part of your profile you set up automatic email notification to be informed when the status of your application changes. If you choose not to set up this automatic notification, then you will have to log into your USAJOBS account to check on the status of your application. Step 2: Create a Resume with USAJOBS or upload a Resume into your USAJOBS account. You may want to customize your resume to ensure it documents duties and accomplishments you have gained that are directly related to this position in order to verify that qualifications are met. In addition, your resume must support your responses to the online questionnaire (you may preview the online questionnaire by clicking on the link at the end of the How You Will Be Evaluated section of the job announcement). Step 3: Click "Apply Online" and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire and attach any additional documents that may be required. You can update your application or documents anytime while the announcement is open. Simply log into your USAJOBS account and click on "Application Status." Click on the position title, and then select "Update Application" to continue. NOTE: Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Only one resume will be reviewed. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration.

Application Deadline: 2026-03-11