Environmental Planner (Assistant I, Assistant II, or Associate) (Multiple Positions)
Valley Water
Salary: See Position Description
Job Type: Full-Time
Job Number: 01620-E
Location: CA, CA
Department: Watersheds Stewardship and Planning
Closing: 6/5/2023 11:59 PM Pacific
Description
Assistant Environmental Planner I: $101,004.80 – $129,313.60 annually
Assistant Environmental Planner II: $108,825.60 – $139,235.20 annually
Associate Environmental Planner: $117,124.80 – $149,926.40 annually
Overview:
Would you like to join a special district working on meaningful community projects that ensure safe, clean water supply, and protect natural environments in the heart of Santa Clara County? Do you have specialized skills or experience that could be applied to a rewarding career in environmental planning and natural resource permitting? Are you versed in the fundamentals of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and/or National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document preparation or regulatory compliance? If so, consider expanding your environmental planning career as an Assistant or Associate Environmental Planner for Valley Water.
Valley Water is a premier water district, supplying wholesale water, providing flood protection, and serving as environmental stewards for clean, safe creeks and healthy ecosystems. Valley Water manages 10 dams and surface water reservoirs, three water treatment plants, an advanced recycled water purification center, a state of-the-art water quality laboratory, nearly 400 acres of groundwater recharge ponds, and more than 275 miles of streams. We provide wholesale water and groundwater management services to local municipalities and private water retailers who deliver drinking water directly to 15 cities and nearly two million people in Santa Clara County.
The Watersheds Stewardship and Planning Division is hiring multiple Environmental Planners at the Assistant and Associate level depending on experience.
Associate Environmental Planners will support development and execution of plans, programs, and/or projects in water supply, water utility, flood protection, and watershed stewardship. This is a journey-level environmental planning position that will perform a variety of professional duties relative to assisting project teams in planning, design, and construction phases. They will guide teams through impact avoidance and minimization, and coordinate and prepare environmental documents compliant with both CEQA and NEPA. Positions will also guide teams through the process of obtaining and implementing applicable natural resource agency permit requirements, including development of appropriate mitigation, application preparation, strategic negotiation, and environmental compliance monitoring and reporting.
Assistant Environmental Planners will assist environmental review and natural resource permitting for the full portfolio of water utility and watersheds plans, programs, and/or projects. This is an entry-level position that will work under immediate or general supervision supporting journey or lead level class environmental planning and permitting activities. Typical duties will also include supporting lead and responsible agency environmental review of Valley Water encroachment permitting, wells permitting, and grants program activities.
Environmental Planners can look forward to working on a broad range of projects spanning creek and bay rehabilitation, wetland creation, public safety, flood protection, imported water, water treatment and conveyance system upgrade, and cutting-edge public-private partnerships. Successful candidates will join teams working on the following active projects:
• San Francisco Bay Shoreline Protection
• Bolsa Road Fish Passage Improvement
• Calabazas/San Tomas Aquino Creek-Marsh Connection
• Coyote Creek Live Oak Reach Habitat Restoration
• Ogier Ponds Creek/Lake Separation
• Anderson Dam Seismic Retrofit
• Calero and Guadalupe Dams Seismic Retrofit
• Calabazas Creek Bank Rehabilitation
• Coyote Creek Flood Protection
• Guadalupe River Flood Protection
• San Francisquito Creek Flood Protection Project
• Coyote Percolation Dam Replacement
• Palo Alto Flood Basin Tide Gate Structure Replacement
• Pipeline Reliability
• Water Utility Infrastructure Master Plan Implementation
Key Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
• Work collaboratively on teams with engineers, biologists, and other technical specialists, as well as consultants, to develop project elements, identify potential environmental impacts, and evaluate opportunities to avoid or minimize impacts.
• Provide advice and guidance to project teams regarding the level of CEQA and NEPA documentation required.
• Oversee and carry out the appropriate CEQA process approved through internal decision memoranda, including exemptions, Negative Declarations (ND), Mitigated Negative Declarations (MND), Environmental Impact Reports (EIR), and related public notices; assist with developing project descriptions; solicit input from responsible and trustee agencies; identify potential significant adverse and beneficial impacts; identify alternatives.
• Support natural resource agency permitting and regulatory compliance efforts through conducting background research, assisting in development of permitting and mitigation strategies, preparing submittals, coordinating with environmental regulators, negotiating the need for permits and permit conditions, and tracking and managing the permit acquisition and compliance processes.
• Serve as liaison with internal staff and external parties on input and questions pertaining to the environmental aspects of the project or activity; receive and respond to written comments from agencies and the public; plan logistics, including the setup of scoping meetings; prepare meeting materials; moderate public hearings; collect verbal comments as necessary; and incorporate and address comments in CEQA documents.
• Assist in consultant management to promote high quality contract work products; monitor progress and maintain close contact during development of work products; review work products.
• Support environmental compliance monitoring of project activities.
Ideal Candidate’s Background Includes:
Applicants whose experience and background best match the ideal experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, and education are considered ideal candidates for the position. To determine the top candidates, each applicant will be assessed based on the ideal candidate criteria as listed below.
Ideal Experience:
The ideal candidate has skills and experience in a broad range of areas related to environmental planning and natural resource permitting. We are open to considering journey-level candidates as well as candidates who are early in their planning career or who have professional experience in another specialty (i.e., air quality, biology, cultural resources, noise, transportation/traffic, water resources, construction management, or closely related engineering field) and can demonstrate that they have transferable skills and experience. Selected candidates will be placed at the Assistant I, Assistant II, or Associate level based on their skills and experience.
• Assistant Environmental Planner I: No or limited professional environmental planning experience.
• Assistant Environmental Planner II: Three (3) years of experience performing professional-level responsibilities as an environmental planner.
• Associate Environmental Planner: Five (5) years of experience performing professional-level responsibilities as an environmental planner.
• Additional ideal experience:
• Experience involving the evaluation of the impact of proposed public works or capital projects or facilities on the community and the environment.
• Preparation of CEQA/NEPA documents and/or successful regulatory permit negotiation and acquisition on complex projects, ideally for water infrastructure and/or environmental restoration.
Ideal Skills and Abilities:
• Strong organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to interpret and apply federal, state, and local policies, laws, and regulations.
• Assess, mitigate, monitor, and report environmental elements and impacts; evaluate thresholds of significance.
• Research and evaluate studies, reports, papers, and related literature used in the field of environmental planning.
• Set priorities and exercise sound independent judgment within established procedural guidelines.
• Public speaking and presentation skills.
Ideal Knowledge:
• Working knowledge of the CEQA and/or NEPA processes as it relates to the planning, design, and construction of infrastructure projects.
• Methods and techniques of scientific research, analysis, and reporting used in the field of environmental planning.
• Methods and techniques of environmental impact assessment, mitigation, monitoring, and reporting.
• Principles and practices of project management, including planning, organizing, scheduling, and controlling budget.
• Federal, state, and regional permitting regulations, laws, processes, and practices applied in environmental planning and natural resource management, including but not limited to: Clean Water Act, Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, California Fish and Game Code, Federal and California Endangered Species Acts, and National Historic Preservation Act.
• Specialist in key aspect of environmental planning and analysis, such as: air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, geology and soils, hydrology and water quality, noise and vibration, and/or traffic and transportation.
Ideal Training and Education:
• Equivalent to a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in environmental studies, ecology, environmental planning, city and regional planning, land use planning, environmental science, natural resources management, geography, biology, chemistry, or a related field.
• A Master’s degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in environmental studies, environmental planning, city and regional planning, environmental science, natural resources management, geography or related field is not required but may substitute for two (2) years of environmental planning experience.
• Professional certification in a relevant field or subject matter is ideal but not required and may substitute for a year of environmental planning experience. This may include, but is not limited to, certification as an: AICP Certified Environmental Planner, AICP Certified Planner, AICP Certified Transportation Planner, Professional Wildlife Biologist, or other certification provided by the state of California, or a nationally recognized professional organization related to environmental planning.
Required License or Certificate
Possession of, or ability to obtain, an appropriate, valid California driver’s license. Individuals who do not meet the driver’s license requirement due to a disability will be considered for a reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case basis.
To review the Classification Specification, please click https://s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/valleywater.org.us-west-1/s3fs-public/Environmental%20Planner%20Ast%20I-II-Asc%20-%205-2019.pdf https://get.adobe.com/reader/
COVID-19 vaccination requirement:
*To protect our most valuable assets, our employees, as well as the communities we serve, Valley Water requires all newly hired Valley Water personnel to be fully vaccinated (for COVID -19) or to be formally excused from the requirement through the **reasonable accommodation process (for details, see bottom of job posting) Valley Water Telework Program: Eligibility for telework will depend on the type of work performed, operational needs, and the ability for the employee to perform the essential functions of their job duties while teleworking. Employment with Valley Water requires employees to live within 150 miles of their primary physical work location located in San Jose, California by their start date.
This position is eligible for a hybrid telework schedule, typically working 40% remote and 60% onsite.
Environmental Planning Unit (Position Code 424 & 806)
Selection Process
(1) The selection process may include one or more of the following: application review, application assessment, performance exercise, written exercise and/or interview.
(2) The Employment Application, Qualifying Information Questions and/or Supplemental Questions will be evaluated based on the ideal candidate criteria listed above. Resumes are highly recommended.
NOTE: Position and start date is subject to availability of funds. Valley Water retains the right to repost this position as deemed necessary.
Consideration may be given to existing applicant pools within the same classification.
Covid-19 Vaccination Requirement:
Fully vaccinated means (1) it has been at least two weeks since a person has completed the entire recommended series of a COVID-19 vaccine, and (2) the person has provided proof of vaccination in a form consistent with the requirements for verification of vaccine status in the State of California’s July 26, 2021, Public Health Officer Order.
**Limited Exemptions to Vaccination Requirement
An individual who has been provided a job offer may request a reasonable accommodation to the vaccination requirement if they:
1. Have a contraindication recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or by the vaccine’s manufacturer to every approved COVID-19 vaccine. A contraindication means a condition that makes vaccination inadvisable;
2. Have a disability and are requesting an exception as a reasonable accommodation based upon this disability; or,
3. Object to COVID-19 vaccination based on their sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.
Valley Water’s Equal Opportunity Non-Discrimination Policy is available for review upon request.
Valley Water will make reasonable efforts in the examination process to accommodate persons with disabilities. Please advise Human Resources in advance of any special needs by calling 408-630-2260.
Please be aware that once submitted all application materials become the property of Valley Water and will not be returned. Human Resources staff are not authorized to make copies of application materials for applicants.
To apply, please visit https://apptrkr.com/4184896
Copyright ©2022 Jobelephant.com Inc. All rights reserved.
