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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING |
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Position Number: 00017589 |
Description Activated On: 8/11/2025 10:33:33 AM |
Position Purpose: Describe the primary purpose of this position and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Example: Provides clerical and office support within the Division to ensure its operations are conducted efficiently and effectively. This position to supervises and manages all activities of the Permits Section. This position requires a Professional Engineers License. Supervisory duties include interviewing and selecting individuals to fill vacancies, ensuring that new employes are adequately trained, preparation of program plans, periodic review of program plans with supervisor, preparation of Employee Performance Reviews (EPRs), periodic review of job standards with employes, administrative matters (review and approval of timesheets, leave slips, expense vouchers, etc.), assignment and monitoring of work, and review and concurrence with finished work products of the Section. |
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Description of Duties: Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Descriptions should include the major end result of the task. Example: Types correspondence, reports, and other various documents from handwritten drafts for review and signature of the supervisor. This section's responsibilities include the review of plans, engineering reports, specifications and other related documents. This section is: 1. Responsible for the review of new and renewal applications for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits required by the Federal Clean Water Act (FCWA) for discharges of treated wastewater to Pennsylvania streams and water bodies. These include the engineering design standards and permit requirements for wastewater treatment technology, including collection, conveyance, storage and ancillary facilities and the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program, including the establishment of effluent quality limitations for point source discharges of municipal and industrial wastewater, industrial stormwater, pesticides/herbicides, and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). Included in this review are: A. A determination of the acceptability or "completeness" of the application. B. Logging and recording the application for tracking purposes at various stages through permit development. C. Development of effluent limitations to be included in the permit based on the more stringent of water quality or technology based conditions. i. Water quality based limits pertain to what waste loads can be assimilated by the receiving stream without stream degradation or loss of a protected stream use (such as fish and aquatic life or public bathing). These limits are developed after a search of the Rules and Regulations identifies the stream uses to be protected and mathematical models are simulated on personal computers. Running these computer models requires a detailed understanding of the sanitary engineer practice of stream modeling. Field viewing of the receiving stream and its physical characteristics is sometimes needed to accomplish this modeling. ii. Technology based limits are developed using guidance available from the U.S. EPA. Technology based limits for industrial waste discharges requires a detailed knowledge of the industry, its processes, and its sources and characteristics of wastewater. This information is developed from EPA development documents and effluent guidelines. In some cases, little or no information is available or the guide does not fit the industry in which case a best engineering judgment must be made. Industrial plant visits and meetings with plant staff are sometimes necessary to accomplish this task. D. A draft permit is then published and comments are solicited. Response to comments is then prepared. If significant public interest exists, a public hearing may be held to consider the comments. E. After resolution of any comments, the Permits Section Chief makes a recommendation to the Regional Water Program Manager and a final permit is either issued or denied. 2. Responsible for review of plans and specifications for applicants for Part II Water Quality Management permits required by the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law. These include permits for large sewer systems, pump stations, force mains, sewage treatment plants and industrial waste treatment facilities. Plans and specifications are reviewed to determine adequacy of design as compared to acceptable engineering practices and the Department's various manuals and guidelines. Necessary revisions are sought and permits are ultimately issued or denied. Field inspections are occasionally conducted subsequent to permit issuance to verify that the facilities were constructed in accordance with the approved plans. 3. Responsible for development of water quality based effluent limits as discussed in I.C.1 above for mining permits (said permits ultimately issued by the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation who also develops the technology based limits). 4. Responsible for the review of requests for certification under Section 401 of the FCWA (water quality certifications). This is for projects not requiring NPDES or Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law permits but otherwise posing a threat to stream quality andmaking a judgment that the activities (with controls as required) either pose no threat to water quality and should be approved or do pose some threat and should be revised or denied. 5. Responsible for development of preliminary effluent limitations as discussed in I.C.1. and 2. above. 6. Responsible for implementation of Pennsylvania’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Strategy including review of adequacy of Nine Minimum Control (NMC) documents and Long-Term Control Plans (LTCP). 7. Responsible for implementation of and adherence to the Department’s Permit Decision Guarantee Program which establishes permit review processes and timeframes. This incldes: A. Assigns applications to permit reviewers ensuring proper workload distribution. B. Reviews Record of Decision (ROD) and make recommendations to Program Manager. C. Suggests new General Permits (GP) that would reduce workload and improve processing. D. Manages permit process within section to ensure goals and objectives are met. E. Follows Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). 8. Responsible for proper utilization of the eFACTS tracking system for all permit actions handled by the section. 9. Responsible for responding to inquiries from applicants, owners, consultants, citizens, legislators, environmental groups, other agencies, and DEP management relative to the above activities. 10. Responsible for assisting the Operations Section as requested in participating in enforcement conferences, the review of pollution abatement orders, and development of compliance schedules. 11. Responsible for participation in regional water watershed initiative efforts, including membership on one or more teams. 12. Responsible for coordination matters relating to water quality management permit applications with regard to the Delaware River Basin Commission and other programs within DEP. 13. Responsible for assisting Regional Counsel in the development of response to appeals of any permits issued or denied by the Section. The Permits Section Chief may be called upon to provide expert or material witness testimony in these matters. 14. Responsible for the processing and review of other submittals such as General Permit Notices of Intent, short-term groundwater cleanups, hydrostatic test water discharges, PPC Plans, chemical additive requests, superfund clean-ups, Toxic Reduction Evaluations, chlorine demand studies, etc. 15. Responsible for coordinating the Hydrogeologist and Soils Scientist reviews of spray irrigation or groundwater injection proposals for discharge of wastewater to groundwater. 16. Responsible for evaluating Social or Economic Justifications (SEJs) submitted for proposed industrial waste discharges to special protection waters, and recommending whether the proposed activity should be allowed to proceed. 17. Responsible for preparation, coordination, and submission of comments, as requested by Central Office, on proposed Departmental regulatory, policy and procedure revisions. The Permits Section Chief may be called upon to participate in various work groups to address regional and statewide issues of concern within the program, including attendance at periodic Permits Chiefs meetings. 18. Promotes the Department's misison. 19. Inputs appropriate data in a prescribed format to meet data quality standards set forth by guidance, training, and policy across all of DEP’s electronic data systems; to include ensuring accuracy and completeness of entries, and where available, the use of system specific tools to ensure duplicative entries and data quality issues are minimized. Supervisory duties include interviewing and selecting individuals to fill vacancies, ensuring that new employes are adequately trained, preparation of program plans, periodic review of program plans with supervisor, preparation of Employee Performance Reviews (EPRs), periodic review of job standards with employes, administrative matters (review and approval of timesheets, leave slips, expense vouchers, etc.), assignment and monitoring of work, and review and concurrence with finished work products of the Section. The employee in this position has the authority to accept, reject, or modify the work of unlicensed staff members. This position description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employe occupying this position. Employes will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisor. |
Decision Making: Describe the types of decisions made by the incumbent of this position and the types of decisions referred to others. Identify the problems or issues that can be resolved at the level of this position, versus those that must be referred to the supervisor. Example: In response to a customer inquiry, this work involves researching the status of an activity and preparing a formal response for the supervisor’s signature. Work is assigned categorically. Any work related to the functions of the Permits Section is channeled to the Section Chief. Supervision is through periodic EPR reviews and routine meetings. The Permits Section Chief is responsible for managing and supervising the Program Engineers in the Clean Water Program and is responsible for the engineering decisions made regarding permit reviews for sewage and industrial wastewater treatment and disposal projects. |
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Requirements Profile: Identify any specific experience or requirements, such as a licensure, registration, or certification, which may be necessary to perform the functions of the position. Position-specific requirements should be consistent with a Special Requirement or other criteria identified in the classification specification covering this position. Example: Experience using Java; Professional Engineer License Experience: Licenses, registrations, or certifications: 1. Professional Engineer 2. Class C Driver's License 3. N/A 4. 5. 6. |
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Essential Functions: Provide a list of essential functions for this position. Example: Transports boxes weighing up to 60 pounds.
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