Environmental Compliance Specialist

Position: Environmental Compliance Specialist

Type of Employment:  Long Term Technical Assistance (LTTA)

Base of Operations: Kathmandu or Surkhet (Surkhet preferred)

Position Reports to: Senior Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Engineer

Project Background:

The USAID Karnali Water Activity will create healthy, resilient, and water secure communities at the watershed level through strengthened water and sanitation governance that improves water resource management (including water for more resilient and biodiverse ecosystems), enhances sustainable access to drinking water, improves agriculture water management, and reduces the fecal pathogen burden in the environment from poorly managed non-sewered sanitation through fecal sludge management. The program team will methodically integrate WRM, watershed biodiversity conservation, and water and sanitation service delivery by mapping and strengthening the roles, connections, and capacities of key actors and stakeholders system wide.

Purpose:

The Environmental Compliance Specialist is responsible for overseeing program compliance with United States Government (USG) and the Government of Nepal’s environmental regulations. 

The Environmental Compliance Specialist will have the expertise in the field to support the implementation of the project activities ensuring compliance with 22 CFR 216 requirements, the Initial Environmental Evaluations (IEE) recommendations, and Nepali environmental laws and regulations. 

The Environmental Compliance Specialist will follow the environmental manual and the templates and forms developed by USAID’s Mission Environmental Officer (MEO). The Environmental Compliance Specialist will work with Karnali Water’s relevant technical personnel to complete all required environmental screening for each planned project activity. When required, the Environmental Compliance Specialist will assure that environmental review checklists and environmental mitigation and monitoring plans are prepared and implemented for all project activities.

Responsibilities and Key Tasks:

The Environmental Compliance Specialist will be responsible for:

• Determine whether project activities should be considered for categorical exclusion, negative determination (with or without conditions), or positive determination (which requires a scoping statement and environmental assessment) and complete any necessary environmental compliance reviews.
• Oversee and manage the Karnali Water’s environmental monitoring deliverables, including all quarterly, annual, and on-demand reporting as required by USAID. 
• Assess any proposed activity sites in preparation for the development of Environmental Documentation Forms
• Visit locations of project activities to collect information required for the preparation of ERCs or updates to EMMP or other specialized environmental documents
• Support oversight of construction subcontractor’s mitigation measures to ensure adherence to Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Plans (EMMPs) and site-specific Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) during construction. 
• Correspond with USAID’s MEO and ensure that all Environmental Documentation Forms are prepared in accordance and to the satisfaction of USAID’s MEO
• Provide training to the project staff in environmental compliance and procedures
• Provide technical assistance for ongoing construction and subcontracts, recommendations to streamline oversight, and enable proper project completion with a focus on technical specifications and quality of work 
• Prepare environmental compliance guidelines and provide trainings to the project staff, consultants, and partners on environmental screening, the environmental compliance guidelines, and any associated systems, when necessary.
• Draft SOWs for environmental assessments (if needed for positive determinations), manage consultant(s) and/or subcontractor selection and hiring. 
• Ensure all project activities are in compliance with USAID’s environmental regulations as well as the relevant Nepali environmental laws, policies and regulations, ensure activities followed the recommendation made by USAID.
• Develop tools for screening new project activities, monitoring compliance and mitigation measures and provide support in monitoring of early warning and trigger indicators.
• Determine regulatory requirements for construction and safety oversight of project activities in regular basis
• Coordinate with USAID, local governments and other donor programs on environmental issues.
• Support the development of mitigation strategies for activities that are already underway
• Support in the modification/design of construction, if required
• Coordinate with the Monitoring and Evaluation and Technical teams to integrate required environmental monitoring into the project M&E system, and integrate data collected into reports and deliverables, as appropriate.

Qualifications:

• 8 years of experience with a Master’s Degree or 12 years of experience with a Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field such as engineering, environmental sciences, environmental management, etc.; (for excluded group 7 years of experience with a Master’s degree or 11 years of experience with Bachelor’s degree)
• At least five years of experience working in the environmental review and compliance field and minimum 2 years of experience on conducting environmental impact assessments and developing/using tools to assess and monitor environmental impact on USAID funded projects.
• Experience with USAID Environmental compliance, rules, regulations and requirements are preferred.
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English.

Level of Effort/Timeline

This position is full-time with 8 working hours per day or 40 working hours per week. The employment contract will be on a yearly basis, with possible extensions until the close of the project. The position is based in Kathmandu or Surkhet (Surkhet preferred) and reports to the Senior Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Engineer.

Application link: 

https://fs23.formsite.com/OLJTgx/yhqhbtjtzv/index.html?1656035385361

Application instructions:

Select the position in which you are interested in applying for, fill out the required information and upload CV. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as interviews will be conducted soon. Please note, due to the volume of applications that we receive and the urgency to fill-up positions only shortlisted applicants will receive notifications on next steps. 

Interested candidates should submit their application no later than July 8, 2022

DAI promotes workforce diversity and considers excluded groups to include women, Dalits, indigenous ethnic groups, Madhesi, Muslim, persons with disabilities, people living in remote areas, and sexual and gender minorities.