Biggest Challenges For An Environmental Planner At HELIX Environmental Planning
Julia's biggest challenge as an Environmental Planner III is navigating "quickly evolving environmental regulations" across multiple jurisdictions, requiring careful balancing of compliance with client needs and project changes. This necessitates detailed report preparation, including various environmental documents like EIRs and NEPA documents, and collaboration with a team to ensure high-quality work within budget and timelines.
Environmental Regulations, Environmental Compliance, Report Writing, Project Management, Teamwork
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
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Job Functions
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Julia Pano
Environmental Planner III
HELIX Environmental Planning
University of California, Davis
N/A
Environmental & Related Sciences
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Climate, Environment and Sustainability
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. The constantly evolving environmental regulations at local, state, and federal levels pose a significant challenge, requiring adaptability and expertise in navigating varying requirements across different jurisdictions.
2. Balancing the need to meet environmental regulations and compliance requirements with clients' needs, especially concerning deadlines and budget constraints, is a key challenge.
3. Maintaining accuracy and clarity in detailed reports, such as EIRs, NEPA documents, and technical studies, while ensuring consistency across all project documentation is crucial and demanding.
Transcript
What's your biggest challenge in your current role?
The biggest challenge in my current role as an environmental planner is navigating quickly evolving environmental regulations. These can change at the local, state, or even federal level, making projects multi-disciplinary and involving multiple jurisdictions with varying requirements.
It's important yet challenging to meet these environmental regulations and compliance requirements while also meeting client needs. This is especially true when dealing with tighter deadlines or limited budgets.
Preparing detailed reports that are accurate and easily understandable is also challenging but rewarding. I draft various California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental compliance documents. These include environmental impact reports, mitigated negative declarations, environmental assessments, and categorical exceptions, among others.
I also prepare technical studies used in these documents, such as air quality and greenhouse gas emissions reports. It's crucial to ensure each document follows the current regulations for the project's jurisdiction and that the project is clearly defined.
A challenge that often arises is when a project changes midway through the outlined schedule. In such cases, it's important to address revisions and ensure all environmental compliance documents and technical reports reflect these changes. Consistency between the project description and all analysis is key.
Working with your team is extremely helpful when facing challenges. You can bounce ideas and solutions off each other to prepare high-quality work within the requested budget and timeframe.