Environmental Protection Specialist

Full Job Description

The Environmental Protection Specialist is a position located at the Nashville and Alvin C.

York campuses in the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) and supports all TVHS facilities including the outlying Community Based Outpatient Clinics.

Environmental protection specialists play a central role in planning and administering environmental programs.

Environmental protection programs deal with the environmental impacts of human activities on air, land, water, and other media.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/17/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service.

An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement.

In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would includes: planning and administering environmental programs; handling environmental impacts of human activities on air, land, water, and other media; ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations to alleviate the adverse impacts of human activities on the environment; completing permits a facility self-assessments, inspections, and other environmental investigations..

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.

OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond graduate level.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Compliance Environmental Engineering Health Risk Analysis Risk Management Technical Competence 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; religions; 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 volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week.

Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities.

Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The duties of this position may require physical exertion involving liftin, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects of varying weights, sizes and shapes.

Physical effort is exerted in walking, running, climbing, crawling, and bending. Strain related to lack of movement such as standing in place, crouching, or stooping for extended periods of time.

Working Conditions - Incumbent is exposed to heat, restricted ventilation, and poor illumination in areas such as equipment rooms.

Incumbent is exposed to all weather conditions when working outside (parking areas, roof, etc.).

Incumbent is exposed to varying climatic conditions from an office, to environmentally controlled space, to excessive heat in the boiler plant.

The equipment rooms are above the normal decibel rating and hearing protection is provided. Hazardous gases/fumes are in the work environment during various tasks.

Respiratory protection is provided as needed for the incumbent. Incumbent is at risk of injury from falls, burns, bruises, and cuts.

Incumbent may be required to work on tall ladders and scaffolds and occasionally is exposed to communicable disease while working in certain words.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Major Duties:

Environmental protection programs are designed to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations governing air emissions, hazardous materials, non-hazardous and hazardous waste, oil spills, water quality, and the storage of regulated substances (e.g., petroleum products, chemicals, and wastes), among other areas, and to alleviate the adverse impacts of human activities on the environment.

Environmental Protection Specialists support VA's Green Environmental Management System (GEMS) implementation and apply specialized knowledge of one or more programs or functional areas of environmental protection work but does not require full professional competence in environmental engineering or science.

The incumbent's duties will include, but are not limited to: Responsible for GEMS program planning and implementation to assure compliance with environmental laws and regulation.

Completes permits and leads facility self-assessments, inspections, and other environmental investigations.

Administers the GEMS program and is responsible for management of GEMS activities and internal reporting activities Subject matter expert in all aspects of Environmental Management Oversee all aspects of Environmental Management Program and compliance oversight will include implementation, monitoring and enforcement of organization polices, and periodic inspections.

Advises senior level management officials within the facility on the status of environmental programs Interacts with federal, state, and local environmental agencies with respect to facility environmental issues.

Participates in Environmental Rounds and conduct internal inspections Analyze tasks, job duties, and waste outputs that have environmental impact.

Independently schedules and leads environmental audits to identify and evaluate program implementation and compliance activities.

Leads the environmental audits as the station environmental program manager and subject matter expert.

Trains other employees and lower grade environmental staff, providing instruction on a variety of subjects related to specific and specialized environmental topics.

Develop and/or provide Environmental training programs based on positions with environmental impact.

Serves as Co-Chair in the facility GEMS committee, which reports to the VA TVHS Environment of Care Committee (EOCC).

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Environmental Protection Specialist/PD708670 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized