Environmental Biologist

Full Job Description

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is ranked within the top 5 mid-size agencies through the Partnership for Public Service's Best Places to Work in the Federal Government Rankings!

This Environmental Biologist position is in the Office of Energy Projects. For more information visit: Office of Energy Projects (OEP).

To view the eligibility and qualification requirements of an Environmental Biologist, GS-0401, please visit: Environmental-Biologist-0401.

In addition to the education required for this position, you must have one full year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-13 level.

Specialized experience is defined as: experience analyzing potential impacts on waterbodies, wetlands, and groundwater resources associated with natural gas facility construction and operation; experience analyzing waterbody and wetland resource surveys; experience addressing waterbody, wetland, and groundwater concerns raised by stakeholders related to natural gas facility construction and operation; experience assessing natural gas facility construction and restoration techniques; and experience assessing the restoration success associated with waterbody/riparian areas and wetland crossings.

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 any volunteer experience.

Please do not cut and paste the position description, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume, as this will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Major Duties:

This position is available in the Division of Gas – Environment & Engineering in the Office of Energy Projects in Washington, DC.

As an Environmental Biologist, some of your typical work assignments may include: Serving as the Water Resources Program Coordinator focusing on waterbodies, wetlands, floodplain protection, groundwater, watershed management, and wild and scenic rivers consultations; reviewing complex water resources analyses (e.g., turbidity and hydrodynamic modeling); ensuring that project construction procedures and mitigation measures described in the environmental analyses meet or exceed relevant requirements stipulated in the FERC Wetland and Waterbody Construction and Mitigation Procedures (FERC Procedures) and assisting with updating the FERC Procedures when appropriate to address new issues; and developing consistent criteria for the review and consideration of proposed waterbody and wetland crossing techniques and riparian area restoration methods.

Ensures consistency on project-related water resource issues. Directing the preparation of environmental assessments and environmental impact statements.

Providing guidance to staff to ensure analyses are technically sound and compliant with all relevant requirements and regulations; advising staff on the preparation of thorough and defensible assessments of wetland impacts and on when and how modeling should be used to assess project impacts and assist staff in correlating the modeling output to potential impacts on aquatic resources.