Environmental consultant vs environmental program manager

The differences between environmental consultants and environmental program managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both an environmental consultant and an environmental program manager. Additionally, an environmental program manager has an average salary of $78,534, which is higher than the $74,913 average annual salary of an environmental consultant.

The top three skills for an environmental consultant include environmental compliance, OSHA and technical reports. The most important skills for an environmental program manager are environmental health, environmental compliance, and EHS.

Environmental consultant vs environmental program manager overview

	Environmental Consultant	Environmental Program Manager
Yearly salary	$74,913	$78,534
Hourly rate	$36.02	$37.76
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	21,723	101,160
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	12	12

What does an environmental consultant do?

An Environmental Consultant provides assessment and advisory services for their clients on matters regarding the management of environmental issues. They are generally hired by consultancy firms, which are hired by the public sector or commercial organizations.

What does an environmental program manager do?

An environmental program manager monitors the procedures facilities and organizations perform and advises them on how to minimize their impact on the environment. They are responsible for implementing environmental strategies to decrease damage to the environment. They also check on reports and evaluate them for issues and concerns that might need immediate attention. They monitor every facility's compliance and supervise revocation of permits of facilities that cannot follow environmental safety standards.

Environmental consultant vs environmental program manager salary

Environmental consultants and environmental program managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Environmental Consultant	Environmental Program Manager
Average salary	$74,913	$78,534
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $98,000	Between $58,000 And $105,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	ConocoPhillips	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Manufacturing

Differences between environmental consultant and environmental program manager education

There are a few differences between an environmental consultant and an environmental program manager in terms of educational background:

	Environmental Consultant	Environmental Program Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Environmental Science	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	University of California, Berkeley

Environmental consultant vs environmental program manager demographics

Here are the differences between environmental consultants' and environmental program managers' demographics:

	Environmental Consultant	Environmental Program Manager
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 69.0% Female, 31.0%	Male, 70.1% Female, 29.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 12.8% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 12.9% White, 68.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between environmental consultant and environmental program manager duties and responsibilities

Environmental consultant example responsibilities.

Develop and implement SPCC regulations, and manage and coordinate routine policy audits for oil and gas industry operators.
Manage a project for the U.S.EPA Superfund program that evaluate flexible methods to distribute Superfund monies to state and tribal governments.
Manage environmental restoration waste site characterization activities in support of CERCLA cleanup.
Audit EHS programs for deficiencies, prepare reports with recommend corrective actions.
Prepare SPCC plans and other documentation associate with storage of large volumes of fuel oil.
Collect GPS points in the field to produce GIS maps of trees inventory and upload marks to database.

Environmental program manager example responsibilities.

Lead strategy for voluntary RCRA corrective action.
Manage environmental restoration waste site characterization activities in support of CERCLA cleanup.
Provide OSHA, DEP, and EPA compliance for material disposal information and procedures.
Coordinate intergovernmental aspects of projects, including obtaining EPA primacy approval for a major restructuring of state environmental regulations.
Produce laboratory MSDS database for OSHA compliance.
Review, issue and write NPDES and UIC permits.

Environmental consultant vs environmental program manager skills

Common environmental consultant skills

Environmental Compliance, 9%
OSHA, 6%
Technical Reports, 5%
Project Management, 5%
EPA, 4%
Due Diligence, 4%

Common environmental program manager skills

Environmental Health, 9%
Environmental Compliance, 7%
EHS, 7%
Project Management, 6%
EPA, 5%
Regulatory Agencies, 5%

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Environmental Consultant vs Environmental Program Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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