U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Locations: Arlington, VA or Washington, DC
Application Deadline: 6/12/2020 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone
One full-time paid opportunity is available with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) in the Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC area.
ORCR works with state and regional partners to implement the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Our mission is to protect human health and the environment by ensuring responsible management of hazardous and nonhazardous waste. ORCR's goals are to conserve resources by reducing waste, prevent future waste disposal problems through regulations, and clean up areas where waste may have spilled, leaked, or been improperly disposed.
Secondary materials are any materials that are not the primary products from manufacturing and other industrial sectors. These materials can include scrap and residuals from production processes and products that have been recovered at the end of their useful life. Some common examples include: coal combustion residuals generated by steam electric utilities, spent foundry sand generated by the metal casting sector, and construction and demolition materials from the construction and demolition of buildings, roads and other infrastructure. The beneficial use of industrial non-hazardous secondary materials is a key part of EPA's Sustainable Materials Management effort.
The goal of this research project is to expand knowledge and methods regarding beneficial use and Sustainable Materials Management (SMM). The appropriate beneficial use of secondary materials can advance the goals of EPA’s SMM program, which emphasizes a materials management approach that aims to reduce impacts to human health and the environment associated with materials over their entire life cycle (e.g., extraction, manufacture, distribution, use, disposal). Through SMM, EPA is helping change the way our society protects the environment and conserves resources for future generations. Life Cycle Assessment is a technique to make more informed decisions through a better understanding of the human health and environmental impacts of products, processes, and activities. This can include an evaluation of the air, water, land, and energy consequences of a product or process, and possible alternatives.
The selected participant will collaborate with EPA professionals in conducting research on environmental science and/or policy related to SMM. The research may involve conducting literature searches and reviews (e.g., existing public information sources, public comments on the Agency’s regulations, and searching through paper records in state Agency files), and stakeholder engagements and dialogues. The research will contribute to a better understanding of SMM including aspects of geographic distribution and flows from producing industries to the end user as well as encouraging appropriate beneficial uses.
As part of this project, the participant will have the opportunity to become familiar with EPA beneficial use methodology and/or life cycle assessment. The participant will also gain an understanding of environmental policy and rule making at EPA.