Environmental Compliance Specialist Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

Environmental Compliance Specialist Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides complete information of the environmental compliance specialist job description to help you learn about what they do.

It presents the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities that commonly make up the environmental compliance specialist work description in most organizations.

This article also presents the major requirements most recruiters may want you to fulfill to be considered for the environmental compliance specialist role.

Please, continue reading to increase your knowledge of the environmental compliance specialist career:

What Does an Environmental Compliance Specialist Do?

An environmental compliance specialist is responsible for ensuring that companies or organizations, industries, and other agencies follow and adhere to environmental laws and regulations.

His/her job description entails studying the environmental impact of the protocols of an organization and suggesting ways in which improvements can be implemented.

In other words, an environmental compliance specialist is responsible for making sure that organizations comply with regulations that are related to pollution, chemical use, and emissions.

He/she is saddled with the responsibility of inspecting industrial sites and investigating various sources of pollution to protect and ensure the safety of local communities, including their health and ensuring that companies comply and adhere to federal and state environmental laws, as well as local regulations and procedures on pollution.

Environmental compliance specialists perform several important tasks, which may include reading reports, analyzing aerial photographs, examining and identifying potential violations, documenting findings, and collecting waste, water, and soil samples in order to critically analyze them.

They are also responsible for carrying out investigative duties, which involve reviewing and investigating complaints of suspected violations of pollution control laws, which may include the illegal dumping of wastes and excessive emissions.

This investigative process also involves collecting water samples and other types of evidence to analyze them in the laboratory, and if this investigation uncovers a violation, the environmental compliance specialist determines what corrective action should be implemented, and issues written citations.

The environmental compliance specialist work description also involves carrying out investigations and examinations on holders of licenses and permits to ensure they don’t violate environmental health and safety laws, and that they comply with licensing requirements.

It also involves inspecting waste disposal and sewage treatment facilities to ensure that these facilities comply with health and safety regulations.

To work in this career, individuals are required to possess and demonstrate certain skills or characteristics, such as strong interest in environment preservation, attention to details, detail-oriented mind, analytical thinking, good time management skills, several years of proven work experience, and several other important qualities.

In terms of academic qualifications, to become an environmental compliance specialist, individuals are required to have sound educational background, which involves having acquired a Bachelor’s degree in a field such as Environmental Science, Biology, or Chemistry, or in a related field.

Some employers also demand 2-4 years of proven work experience in the field or in a related area, which can be acquired either professionally or through an internship.

Environmental compliance specialist: The median annual salary for an environmental compliance specialist is $54,454.

Environmental Compliance Specialist Job Description Example/Sample/Template

Typically, the job description of environmental compliance specialists contains the following tasks, duties, and responsibilities:

• Administering equipment and environmental sampling programs
• Determining waste reduction and recycling opportunities
• Designing, developing, and implementing several environmental multi-media training presentations
• Assisting in the development, management, and maintenance of company’s environmental management system
• Examining and studying the environmental impact of an organization’s protocols and suggesting or recommending improvements
• Educating and informing businesses and members of the public on environmental laws
• Preparing reports and graphics that concisely entails environmental regulations
• Inspecting waste disposal and sewage treatment facilities to ensure that these facilities conform to the regulations of health and safety
• Carrying out investigations on suspected violations of environmental health and safety laws
• Examining licenses and permits to ensure that the holders of these documents adhere to the licensing requirements.

Environmental Compliance Specialist Job Description for Resume

If you have worked before as an environmental compliance specialist or are currently working in that role and are making a new resume, you will need to add the professional experience section to your resume.

You can create this section by applying the environmental compliance specialist duties and responsibilities provided in the job description sample above.

Having the professional or work experience section in your resume will make it stronger, especially if the job you are seeking requires having some working experience as an environmental compliance specialist.

Environmental Compliance Specialist requirements – Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities

If you are seeking the environmental compliance specialist role, here are major requirements recruiters may want you to meet to be hired:

• Familiarity with the standard concepts, practices, and procedures within the environmental compliance industry
• Good time management skills to conduct investigations and sample analysis within a given time frame
• Incorrigible interest in environment preservation which will enable an environmental compliance specialist to carry out his or her duty efficiently and effectively with passion
• 2-4 years of proven work experience in the field or in a related area, which can be acquired either professionally or through an internship
• A Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Biology, or Chemistry, or in a related field.

Conclusion

If you are a recruiter or employer needing to hire for the environmental compliance specialist position in your organization, the sample job description above is a template you can apply in making a suitable description of the role.

By publishing a detailed description of the available environmental compliance specialist role in your organization, prospective candidates will be able to learn about the duties and responsibilities they will be expected to perform if hired.

This post also provides helpful information to individuals interested in the environmental compliance specialist career, to help them learn all about the duties and responsibilities that constitute the role.