Environmental Planner III - Facilities Management (Finance)

The County of Riverside's Department of Facilities Management is seeking an Environmental Planner III to join the Maintenance Services Division in Riverside, CA.

Under general supervision, the Environmental Planner III will be responsible for environmental planning and compliance in one or more areas, including facilitating environmental clearance processes for projects, providing regulatory guidance and oversight for existing and planned County facilities and equipment, ensuring compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), overseeing the completion of any required remedial actions for County facilities and equipment, supporting environmental permitting, and performing other related duties as needed.

Competitive candidates will possess the following qualifications:

• Five years of professional experience in environmental planning and/or regulatory compliance.
• Strong knowledge of County, State, and Federal environmental and land-use regulations, with special emphasis on California Environmental Quality Act ( CEQA ), National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ( NPDES ), and compliance practices related to equipment.
• In-depth understanding of environmental planning principles and public administration.
• Familiarity with planning and engineering principles relevant to project development.
• A solid foundation in the physical and life sciences.
• Ability to read and interpret rules and regulations, offering recommendations that balance competing interests effectively.
• Strong capacity to analyze complex information and provide clear oral and written recommendations tailored to diverse audiences, based on their level of understanding and expertise.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact with tact, patience, and courtesy.
• Basic knowledge of public relations techniques.

Meet the Team!
Riverside County Department of Facilities Management provides property management and operations services for county owned and leased facilities throughout the 7,200 square miles of Riverside County and over 14 million square feet of space. The department is responsible for keeping county buildings safe, comfortable and productive for both county staff and the public.• Receives proposed project descriptions for capital projects, applications for zoning changes, conditional uses, variances, plot plan approvals, or subdivision approvals and reviews for consistency with the general plan, compliance with local ordinances and regional and state requirements, and extent of environmental impact.

• Contacts various public agencies to gather information pertinent to specific cases, transportation or environmental studies.

• Meets with consultants or developers to advise them on requirements applicable to proposed projects and to assist in developing plans to meet these requirements.

• Makes field trips to property sites and surrounding areas to gather facts; takes photographs of significant community/natural resource features; plans and coordinates with delineators on the preparation of maps, graphs, and other visual displays.

• Analyzes collected case or project data and formulates recommendations; prepares master environmental assessments and environmental impact reports.

• Develops and manages the feasibility, definition, scope, design, development, and implementation of the strategic approach to project environmental compliance/clearances.

• Conducts planning studies of human, physical, natural, economic and/or governmental resources for the general plan, regional plans, area plans, highway plan or operating work plan.

• Works with staff of regional and state agencies to exchange or clarify information used in developing regional plans; analyzes existing plans and identifies deficiencies in policy or legal authority and defines areas for policy consideration and decision.

• Drafts parts of developmental policy guidelines or assigned sections of the capital improvement programs, highway or transportation plans, for review and consolidation by supervisor.

• Prepares drafts of reports for incorporation into capital improvement programs; prepares written staff or project reports; assists with the preparation of Requests for Proposal/Qualifications for environmental services; and reviews consultant proposals/scope of work, budget and schedule.

• Reviews CEQA and/or NEPA technical studies and documents; prepares and manages CEQA notices of exemption for routing maintenance, small construction/expansion/improvement and emergency repair projects; ensures implementation of Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Programs.

• Performs administrative duties; tracks sub-consultant invoices/purchase orders and public review periods and other critical milestones associated with the CEQA process; maintains electronic and office project files and Environmental Unit website.

• Makes oral presentations of information and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors or other County departments.

• Collects raw or previously compiled data from a variety of information sources for use in making long range projections for studies; analyzes the validity and comparability of data.

• Applies statistical formulas in the analysis of demographic, economic, environmental, and other data; provides data as requested for various planning studies and programs.

• Answers public inquiries regarding ordinances, laws, regulations, policies, and procedures governing land use or transportation planning development.

• May serve as team leader on individual projects or cases; may assist in preparing drafts of new department policies and procedures and in reviewing existing policies and procedures for revision or amendment or implementation.

• May assist in the analysis of proposed or adopted legislation to determine the potential or actual impact on department operations.

• May present recommendations on cases to the Board of Supervisors; may assist in training other professional environmental planners; may use computers to assist in any of the above applications.Education: Graduation from an accredited college with a bachelor's degree, preferably with major coursework in environmental planning, engineering, urban planning, environmental sciences, public administration, construction management or a closely related field.

Experience: Five years of professional environmental planning, construction management, land use planning, and/or transportation planning experience which must have included performing one of the following kinds of planning activities associated with a planning agency: comprehensive, regional, area, or community planning; plan/proposal review; general plan amendments; zoning; land division; information services; urban renewal; planning administration, environmental planning or transportation planning. (A master's degree in planning or transportation planning may be substituted for one year of the required experience. A master's degree in public administration, urban geography, architecture, civil engineering, environmental sciences, landscape architecture, or a closely related field may be substituted for six months of the required experience. No more than one master's degree may be used to substitute for the required experience.)

Knowledge of: The principles, methods, and procedures applicable to environmental, land use or transportation planning activities; the physical, social, environmental, and economic implications of land use or transportation planning; local, state, and federal legislation governing land use development and transportation planning activities; CEQA, ESA, NPDES, CWA compliance and other environmental regulatory processes; the organizational structure and jurisdiction of governmental agencies involved in the planning process and their interrelationship, responsibilities and functions; knowledge of the methods involved in designing research studies and identifying and utilizing data sources; knowledge of mandated general plan elements and factors that must be considered in evaluating proposals for consistency with these elements.

Ability to: Plan and carry out work independently; organize and conduct research, collect, and analyze data, generate and evaluate alternatives, reach logical conclusions, and formulate consistent recommendations; compose clear and thorough study and project reports and recommendations; clearly and persuasively make oral presentations of study findings and recommendations to a variety of public groups and governmental bodies; work effectively with the general public and community and governmental board and commissions; interpret and apply laws and regulations pertaining to planning projects and cases. Other Requirements
License: Possession of a valid California Driver's License is required. Driving throughout the County to visit various project sites and attend meetings.

Open to All Applicants

This recruitment is open to all applicants.
For questions regarding this recruitmentContact Vanessa Diaz Beaird at VDBEAIRD@rivco.org with any questions regarding this recruitment.