WHAT DOES AN ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNER DO?
Published: Feb 17, 2025 – The Environmental Planner ensures project risks are identified and mitigated while fostering a culture of safety and compliance with established guidelines. Complex projects are led with innovative techniques, producing detailed analyses and recommendations, while policies and procedures are continually refined for consistent implementation. Technical training, quality improvement, and client engagement strategies are actively promoted to enhance team capabilities and project outcomes.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Environmental Planner
1. Environmental Planner Overview
- EA Documentation: Prepare EA documentation, including notices, consultation materials, letters to stakeholders, and consultation records.
- Socio-Economic Studies: Prepare socio-economic studies, including conducting background research and analysis.
- Project Schedules and Budgets: Develop, prepare, and maintain project/task schedules and budgets for the environmental component of the project.
- Project Monitoring: Monitor project progress, work hours, budgets, and expenditures, using project scheduling and cost control tools.
- Environmental Assessments and Permitting: Work with and support environmental planners/project managers in carrying out Environmental Assessments and permitting for construction.
- Collaboration: Collaborate with technical and professional staff across the company in completing assignments.
- Meeting Coordination: Coordinate, organize, prepare for, attend, and document project meetings (internal and external).
- Consultation Programs: Coordinate the development and implementation of consultation programs, including municipal, federal/provincial regulatory agencies, and Indigenous engagement.
- Specialist Coordination: Coordinate work of environmental specialists (i.e., fisheries, terrestrial ecologists, noise, air, archaeology, built heritage, etc.), including management of subcontractors.
- Permit Coordination: Coordinate with government/regulatory agencies and internal technical leads to obtain environmental permits/approvals for construction on a variety of projects.
- Business Development: Support business development efforts, including proposal writing.
2. Environmental Planner Details and Accountabilities
- Energy Infrastructure Licensing: Assist senior staff in energy infrastructure licensing and permitting studies.
- Research Permitting Requirements: Research federal, state, and municipal permitting requirements.
- Technical and Regulatory Guidance: Provide technical and regulatory guidance, support, and coaching to share knowledge and develop an understanding of environmental requirements.
- Consultant and Contractor Management: Manage consultants and contractors in securing necessary permits and approvals, as well as during project monitoring to support construction activities.
- Environmental Data Management: Enter environmental data into company databases in support of the Environmental Department, this can include reports and analytical data.
- Compliance Submittals: Support company compliance submittals, including SARA Tier 2, PCB ADL, Biennial reports, and other required reports.
- Field Reviews and Inspections: Participate in field reviews, project compliance inspections, and site meetings.
- Public Engagement: Participate in public open house meetings and regulatory hearings.
- Client Office Duties: Perform duties at the client office located in Providence, RI.
3. Environmental Planner Tasks
- Data Collection: Collect project-related data, which may include research, interviews with government agencies and clients, map reviews, field investigations for wetlands, and land use.
- Mapping and Analysis: Prepare constraints mapping and net effects analysis.
- Environmental Assessments: Conduct environmental assessments (EAs) and environmental impact studies (EIS).
- Public Participation: Assist in preparation for and participation in public information meetings and hearings.
- Technical Report Preparation: Prepare, plan, and analyze/review technical studies, permit applications, EA and IA documents, and similar reports/documents.
- Permit Coordination: Assist public and private clients with permit coordination, acquisition, and compliance.
- Environmental Planning and Permitting: Responsible for environmental planning and permitting processes and procedures.
- Stakeholder Relationship Management: Create and maintain strong relationships with all internal and external stakeholders.
- Feasibility Study Review: Review feasibility studies, reports, and analysis.
- Risk Identification and Reporting: Identify and report any environmental/social risks.
- Environmental Expertise: Provide environmental expertise in various locations.
4. Senior Environmental Planner Roles
- Risk Awareness: Develop an understanding and be aware of project-related risks.
- Project Risk Management: Be familiar with what could go wrong on a project and how to protect the Company.
- Safety Leadership: Lead safety efforts for the team and ensure the team follows safety rules and guidelines.
- Safe Work Environment: Responsible for creating and modeling a safe work environment, and demonstrating safety practices.
- Quality Monitoring: Promote continuous quality monitoring and improvement on projects.
- Project Leadership: Responsible for leading complex projects requiring innovative investigation techniques.
- Analysis and Reporting: Supervise the analysis and formation of recommendations in written reports.
- Policy and Procedure Development: Assist in establishing and updating current policies/procedures for technical projects in the field of expertise, to ensure proper interpretation and implementation by subordinate staff.
- Technical Direction and Training: Provide technical direction and training to less experienced professional staff.
- Marketing and Client Engagement: Participate in the development of marketing strategies and presentations of qualifications to clients on projects.
- Project Review: Serves as an Authorized Project Reviewer.
5. Environmental Planner Role Purpose
- Reporting: Report to the Manager of Environmental Programs.
- Environmental Program Support: Provide support to the oversight of environmental programs for Hydro One operations (specifically as they relate to water supply and wastewater treatment and designated substance hazards at Hydro One facilities).
- Compliance Oversight: Carry out assigned activities to effectively oversee water, wastewater, and designated substance compliance and testing elements of the Environmental Programs as required by Environmental Compliance approvals and environmental, health, and safety laws.
- Data Analysis: Information gathering and data analysis to assess conditions, identify environmental impacts of proposed works, identify mitigation measures, and identify and evaluate alternative solutions.
- Reporting and Presentations: Assistance with internal reporting and presentations.
- Guidance and Assistance: Provide advice, guidance, and assistance to program managers and contractors regarding environmental issues and procedures.
- Data Collection and Interpretation: Collect, interpret, and organize a variety of data in multiple formats.
- Research and Coordination: Conduct research and coordinate with public and private clients, internal and external engineering partners, technical sub-consultants, and regulatory/resource agencies.
- Team Collaboration: Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team supporting project directors, project managers, and deputy project managers based on the size and complexity of the project.