Senior Environmental Specialist

Senior Environmental Specialist

Requirements

• Significant experience with defining and securing environmental permit(s)/ operating approval(s), renewal(s), and condition change(s) and implementing regulatory and environmental management programs for industrial gas, refining, petrochemical or equivalent complexity operations and facility.
• Strong organizational (e.g., time and project management), interpersonal, and communication (e.g., presentation, negotiation, conflict resolution, etc.) skills and a work process orientation. Ability to reduce/ simplify complex technical and regulatory elements into language that non-technical people can understand and action.
• Ability, experience and desire to train, coach and mentor other personnel (e.g. operations personnel, leadership, students) in environmental – regulations, policy, procedures and compliance knowledge is an essential core element of the position.
• Significant experience and a demonstrated ability to track and pro-actively manage multiple regional permit(s)/ operating approval(s) with potentially concurrent and overlapping deadlines, across multiple environmental media.
• Proficient computer and software skills for programs and systems used in the industry and an ability to quickly learn and adopt new. Examples include but are not limited to the Microsoft Office Suite (including strong Excel skills), SAP, and EHS digital information and compliance management software (e.g. Enablon, ISNetworld, etc.); and various Federal and Provincial Government regulatory agency systems for reporting on compliance tasks (e.g., ECCC SWIM, Alberta ETS, MyAlberta Digital ID – Water Reporting, Alberta Carbon Registries, Ontario RPRA, CATS, etc.).
• Technical knowledge and experience working with and troubleshooting Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS) as it relates to environmental compliance.
• Preference to candidates with knowledge of industrial gas production and refinement process and technology, including Hydrogen Generation (HyCO), Air Separation (ASU), Co-generation (GenGas), and Hydrogen fuel technologies and processes.
• Knowledge and practical experience in the implementation of practices and guidelines originating from the Canadian Council for Ministers of the Environment (CCME).
• Ability to work in office, construction, and operating plant environments.

Responsibilities

• Monitor, maintain, evaluate and improve APCL programs across all environmental media (air/water/waste/noise) to comply with regional and national environmental laws and regulations, permit/ operating approval requirements, and internal policies and procedures for facilities located in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
• Perform environmental regulatory assessments, due diligence activities and risk assessment, and risk management of plants and projects to define and secure environmental permit(s)/ operating approval(s). This includes developing environmental permitting strategy, preparing (or coordinating consultant preparation) of applications, interaction with the customer, public and regulator as required, and the creation and management of appropriate project documentation.
• Monitor for, anticipate and escalate regulatory risks, compliance risks and non-conformities to impacted operations and leadership teams in a timely manner.
• Either directly, or via the management of consultants, prepare and submit permit/ operating approval reapplications and renewals; interact and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders; negotiate with regulatory authorities and other involved parties; and create and manage the appropriate project documentation.
• Provide the operations, commercial and safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) teams with data-driven strategies and tactics to respond to environmental regulatory requirements impacting operations, permit(s)/ operating approval(s) and projects.
• Identify environmental trends, risks and opportunities, and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, to lead cross-functional teams to develop practical solutions to sustain and improve upon environmental performance and compliance.
• Develop, sustain, and improve environmental compliance/ assurance: best practices, strategies, tools, monitoring, sampling, and testing programs to demonstrate compliance with regulatory and permit/ operating approval limits and conditions.
• Monitor all environmental compliance/ assurance tools for overall effectiveness and performance at Canadian facilities; correct performance where required.
• Direct, train and coach operations personnel in environmental permit/ operating approval conditions, regulatory requirements and compliance/ assurance tools.
• Prepare and support operations personnel and facilities for internal and external environmental audits and inspections and the timely correction of non-conformance findings and action items; support accountable tracking and resolution of action items.
• Engage and consult with internal and external stakeholders as required to deliver and manage the regions environmental programs and regulatory compliance.
• Prepare and maintain general and hazardous materials waste programs for assigned facilities and secure requisite approvals from waste disposal facilities and regulators. Advise internal and external stakeholders, of the completion of certificates of analysis, proper waste categorization, classification, manifesting and reporting to internal sustainability program and external regulator databases as required.
• Prepare and submit routine (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual, etc.) environmental compliance reports to local, provincial, and federal regulators. Examples may include but are not restricted to air emissions, stack testing, ground water monitoring, wastewater monitoring, soil monitoring, pollutant reporting, GHG reporting, etc.). Assist the operations teams with the investigation (causal analysis), resolution, and regulatory escalation (if required) of non-conformity to the permit/ operating conditions and environmental laws and regulations.
• Actively monitor regulator (Municipal/ Regional, Provincial and Federal government) environmental rulemaking and analyze emerging and changing regulations to determine potential impact on company operations and projects; communicate trends, risk and opportunities to internal stakeholders and leadership teams.
• Provide environmental planning and execution support to plant turnaround and outage activities to ensure effective environmental risk management and ongoing compliance with laws, regulations, permit(s)/ operating approval(s), environmental management best practices, industry accepted standards, project plans and budget.
• Support the operations and SHEQ teams with environmental contractor, vendor and supplier solicitation, selection, compliance and performance management activities.
• Participate in company-wide work groups and improvement projects as assigned.
• Support the operations and SHEQ teams with preparing for, responding to and recovering from environmental and operational emergencies, and with critical incident and business continuity management tasks as assigned.

Preferred Qualifications

• Preference to candidates with 10 years or more of experience in Canadian-based environmental regulatory permitting and compliance management with extensive knowledge and direct involvement in multi-media management activities (air/water/waste/noise). Lesser experience may be considered.
• A focused or advanced degree in Environmental Engineering or Science is strongly preferred.