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Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians
Apply theory and principles of environmental engineering to modify, test, and operate equipment and devices used in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental problems, including waste treatment and site remediation, under the direction of engineering staff or scientists. May assist in the development of environmental remediation devices.
Also Known As:
Air Quality Instrument Specialist
Engineer Technician
Environmental Engineering Assistant
Environmental Engineering Technician
Environmental Field Technician
Environmental Technician
Haz Tech (Hazardous Technician)
Wages
Annual wages for Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
13,000
1% Change From 2024
Explore Environmental Engineering Technicians video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Perform environmental quality work in field or office settings.
- Maintain process parameters and evaluate process anomalies.
- Inspect facilities to monitor compliance with regulations governing substances, such as asbestos, lead, or wastewater.
- Prepare permit applications or review compliance with environmental permits.
- Assess the ability of environments to naturally remove or reduce conventional or emerging contaminants from air, water, or soil.
- Arrange for the disposal of lead, asbestos, or other hazardous materials.
- Create models to demonstrate or predict the process by which pollutants move through or impact an environment.
- Prepare permit applications or review compliance with environmental permits.
- Prepare and package environmental samples for shipping or testing.
- Maintain project logbook records or computer program files.
- Perform environmental quality work in field or office settings.
- Model biological, chemical, or physical treatment processes to remove or degrade pollutants.
- Collect and analyze pollution samples, such as air or ground water.
- Decontaminate or test field equipment used to clean or test pollutants from soil, air, or water.
- Produce environmental assessment reports, tabulating data and preparing charts, graphs, or sketches.
- Collect and analyze pollution samples, such as air or ground water.
- Evaluate and select technologies to clean up polluted sites, restore polluted air, water, or soil, or rehabilitate degraded ecosystems.
- Receive, set up, test, or decontaminate equipment.
- Review technical documents to ensure completeness and conformance to requirements.
- Perform statistical analysis and correction of air or water pollution data submitted by industry or other agencies.
- Oversee support staff.
- Record laboratory or field data, including numerical data, test results, photographs, or summaries of visual observations.
- Decontaminate or test field equipment used to clean or test pollutants from soil, air, or water.
- Review work plans to schedule activities.
- Work with customers to assess the environmental impact of proposed construction or to develop pollution prevention programs.
- Provide technical engineering support in the planning of projects, such as wastewater treatment plants, to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and policies.
- Maintain process parameters and evaluate process anomalies.
- Develop work plans, including writing specifications or establishing material, manpower, or facilities needs.
- Obtain product information, identify vendors or suppliers, or order materials or equipment to maintain inventory.
- Improve chemical processes to reduce toxic emissions.
- Assist in the cleanup of hazardous material spills.
- Work with customers to assess the environmental impact of proposed construction or to develop pollution prevention programs.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")