Salary: $65K – $105K

GENERAL PURPOSE:  

There are two Environmental Planner positions available, one of which will be located in the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Region 10 office in downtown Seattle for an initial assignment of up to four years.  The position will be on loan to FTA’s Planning and Program Development office to assist in environmental review and planning under NEPA for FTA grantees. During the assignment, this position would not work directly on Sound Transit sponsored projects, but will report to a Sound Transit supervisor.

Under general direction, the Environmental Planner works in a team environment to perform a variety of professional-level environmental planning and analysis functions in support of capital project development for Sound Transit’s Link, Sounder, Stride, or ST Express programs. Work could occur through various project stages including early planning, conceptual engineering, final design, and construction. This position would work on multi-disciplinary teams, interacting with a variety of staff members and consultants to complete projects or tasks.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

The following duties are a representative summary of the primary duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed and may be required to perform additional, position-specific duties.

• Supports, conducts, and helps oversee environmental review tasks for Sound Transit projects to ensure that the Agency complies with the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and associated local, state, and federal environmental review regulations, by conducting some or all of the following:

o Supports multidisciplinary project teams by taking a lead environmental role on selected issues including natural resource impact analyses, development of mitigation strategies, and other resources as assigned;

o Helps develop consultant scopes of work and cost estimates and reviews progress invoices;

o Helps manage, and reviews, consultant work products, and facilitates review of consultant work products by other subject matter experts within the Agency;

o Coordinates with internal staff and outside stakeholders, helps track project and environmental work schedules, and provides environmental status as well as technical information and updates to project teams and project managers;

o Participates in coordination with Federal NEPA Lead Agencies or SEPA Co-Lead/Consulted Agencies, and in developing Agency strategy and approach for NEPA/SEPA processes;

o Researches and analyzes information, issues, and environmental regulations and policies;

o Processes and manages public and third party comments and leads distribution of and notifications for environmental documents;

o Maintains the Agency’s environmental Administrative Record and documentation for projects;

o Coordinates and administers environmental review for smaller projects;

o Helps manage environmental commitment tracking and reporting for projects, including providing database updates;

o Helps coordinate environmental oversight into and through project construction to ensure project scope remains covered by prior environmental reviews or that projects receive new reviews as appropriate (reviews project contract specifications and drawings to ensure they include environmental commitments and reviews real property acquisitions for consistency with environmental documents);

o Reviews and helps develop public facing documents, websites, agreements, and presentations to ensure appropriate environmental information is conveyed;

o Attends public meetings and represents Sound Transit; and

o Coordinates with Sound Transit’s Environmental, Land Use, and Technical Permitting staff on environmental issues related to permits.

• Provides support for other PEPD activities including reviewing project designs, and preparing and reviewing materials to support internal processes (such as Change Control Board, Agency procurements, or Board of Directors actions).

• Provides support to the Division/Department on matters as directed; serves as staff on a variety of committees as assigned; prepares and presents staff reports and other necessary correspondence; attends and participates in professional group meetings; maintains awareness of new trends and developments in the fields related to area of assignment; incorporates new developments as appropriate; ensures processes, policies and practices are interpreted and applied consistently and effectively; ensures accountability and compliance with all current and applicable state and federal laws, Agency policies and procedures, rules and regulations.

• Demonstrates Sound Transit’s Values in every interaction.

• It is the responsibility of all employees to follow the Agency safety rules, regulations, and procedures pertaining to their assigned duties and responsibilities, which could include systems, operations, and/or other employees.

• It is the responsibility of all employees to integrate sustainability into everyday business practices.

• Other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s Degree in environmental studies, environmental sciences, planning, geography, or closely related field, and five years of experience with planning or project management, preferably in the transportation industry and/or in public sector agencies; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Licenses or Certifications:

Valid state driver’s license.

Required Knowledge of:

• State and Federal environmental laws, regulations, and industry practices, and policies and procedures as they relate to environmental review through NEPA and SEPA.

• Environmental and land use laws and regulations and practices related to compliance.

• Operations, services, and activities of an environmental planning program.

• Project management techniques and principles.

• Federal, state, and local transportation planning requirements.

• General knowledge of sustainability principles and practices

• General knowledge of principles and practices of governmental budget preparation and administration.

• Knowledge of natural resources and resource laws and regulations, regional issues, natural resource permitting, and mitigation implementation.

• Principles of business letter writing and basic report preparation.

Required Skills:

• Utilizing computer applications such as SharePoint, MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (skill with MS Project or relational databases such as Quickbase would be a plus).

• Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with other department staff, management, vendors, outside agencies, community groups and the general public.

• Applying principles and practices of local, state, and federal environmental laws and regulations.

• Interpreting and applying local, state and federal environmental laws, regulations, and industry practices, policies and procedures as they relate to environmental issues.

• Analyzing and synthesizing information in a concise manner and ability to make recommendations on strategies to resolve environmental issues.

• Analyzing problems, identifying alternative solutions, and preparing recommendations.

• Contract management or assistance and development of scope, quality, schedule, and costs.

• Multi-tasking competing priorities.

• Preparing and analyzing complex data and comprehensive reports and communicating to a broad range of audience, as appropriate.

• Responding to inquiries in effective oral and written communication.

• Applying project management techniques and principles.

• Working cooperatively with other departments, Agency officials, and outside agencies.

• Preparing, coordinating, and reviewing consultant scopes, budget and schedules.

• English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Physical Demands / Work Environment: 

• Work is primarily performed in a standard office environment; project site visits and travel to external meeting sites may be required.

• Subject to standing, walking, bending, reaching, stooping, and lifting of objects up to 25 pounds; may occasionally be exposed to dangerous machinery when working in the field and visiting construction sites.

• The Agency promotes a safe and healthy work environment and provides appropriate safety and equipment training for all personnel as required.

Sound Transit is an equal employment opportunity employer. No person is unlawfully excluded from employment action based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status or other protected class.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)