Is protecting the environment important to you? If so, then you may find a job as an environmental compliance inspector to be extremely rewarding. In this role, you will play a critical role in preventing the contamination and pollution of the water we drink and the air we breathe. You'll get a chance to investigate complaints of suspected violations of pollution control laws, such as illegal dumping and excessive emissions. You will investigate complaints of suspected violations of pollution control laws, such as illegal dumping and excessive emissions.
In addition to investigating suspected violations, you'll review licenses and permits and verify that the permit holders are abiding by the requirements and regulations. You'll also inspect waste disposal and treatment facilities to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations. Some other duties you may perform are collecting waste, water, and soil samples, investigating specific complaints of suspected violations, educating businesses on environmental laws, and documenting findings of potential violations. If a violation is uncovered, the inspector also determines what corrective action should be taken, which may include issuing citations or other legal action.
If a job in this field sounds appealing, you'll need to earn a Bachelor's degree in environmental science, natural resource management, environmental law, biology, chemistry, or in a related field. You'll also need good time management skills to conduct investigations and sample analysis within a given time frame as well as a passionate interest in preserving the environment.
How to Become an Environmental Compliance Inspector
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an environmental compliance inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.46 an hour? That's $50,886 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 3,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Environmental Compliance Inspector Do
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an environmental compliance inspector, we found that a lot of resumes listed 10.0% of environmental compliance inspectors included environmental compliance, while 7.4% of resumes included ensure compliance, and 6.1% of resumes included inspection reports. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
How To Become an Environmental Compliance Inspector
If you're interested in becoming an environmental compliance inspector, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 58.0% of environmental compliance inspectors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.1% of environmental compliance inspectors have master's degrees. Even though most environmental compliance inspectors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an environmental compliance inspector. When we researched the most common majors for an environmental compliance inspector, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on environmental compliance inspector resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an environmental compliance inspector. In fact, many environmental compliance inspector jobs require experience in a role such as archaeologist. Meanwhile, many environmental compliance inspectors also have previous career experience in roles such as project manager or inspector.
Average Salary for an Environmental Compliance Inspector
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Environmental Compliance Inspectors
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME • Private
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
8. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
10. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
Top Skills For an Environmental Compliance Inspector
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.0% of environmental compliance inspectors listed environmental compliance on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
Environmental Compliance Inspector Demographics
Environmental Compliance Inspector Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among environmental compliance inspectors, 25.5% of them are women, while 74.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among environmental compliance inspectors is White, which makes up 62.7% of all environmental compliance inspectors.
- The most common foreign language among environmental compliance inspectors is Spanish at 50.0%.
Online Courses For Environmental Compliance Inspector That You May Like
Compliance isn't only about preventing problems and ensuring that everyone is abiding by laws, rules, and regulations. It's also about the positive impact a robust and ethical compliance program can have on a business or organization. In this course we will discuss why compliance is important - from the needs facing businesses in highly regulated industries to avoiding fines and penalties to preventing reputational and economic nightmares. We'll examine real-world examples of compliance and gove...
Every organization faces a myriad of risks that can threaten its operations, reputation, and bottom line. A robust, effective compliance program can make the difference between companies that successfully navigate those risks, and those that become cautionary tales.\n\nThis specialization will introduce the essential elements of effective organizational compliance by exploring the concepts, considerations, and strategies for assessing risks and managing the compliance function. You will learn th...
Best States For an Environmental Compliance Inspector
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an environmental compliance inspector. The best states for people in this position are California, New Jersey, Maryland, and Nevada. Environmental compliance inspectors make the most in California with an average salary of $70,759. Whereas in New Jersey and Maryland, they would average $65,225 and $63,927, respectively. While environmental compliance inspectors would only make an average of $61,446 in Nevada, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. California
$70,759
Avg. Salary
2. Massachusetts
$59,773
Avg. Salary
3. Nevada
$61,446
Avg. Salary
How Do Environmental Compliance Inspector Rate Their Jobs?
Top Environmental Compliance Inspector Employers
Most Common Employers For Environmental Compliance Inspector
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goodwin | $160,392 | $77.11 | 2 |
| 2 | American Energy Partners | $105,190 | $50.57 | 2 |
| 3 | Verizon Communications | $89,483 | $43.02 | 2 |
| 4 | Pacific Gas and Electric | $67,980 | $32.68 | 3 |
| 5 | Management Solutions | $66,856 | $32.14 | 1 |
| 6 | Compliance | $63,654 | $30.60 | 3 |
| 7 | Table Mountain Casino | $62,251 | $29.93 | 10 |
| 8 | Island Operating | $61,200 | $29.42 | 3 |
| 9 | Renewable Energy Systems Americas | $61,057 | $29.35 | 1 |
| 10 | City of Los Angeles | $52,377 | $25.18 | 5 |