What Does an Environmental Compliance Technician Do?
Environmental compliance technicians collect the water and soil samples a site's permits call for, inspect hazardous waste storage every week and keep the logs that state and federal inspectors ask to see. At factories, utility yards and research campuses, they back up the environmental engineers who sign the reports. After a storm, they walk the drains.
Also known as: Lead Environmental Compliance Technician
Other Job Titles for This Work
Workers in this occupation report titles such as Environmental Health Officer (EHO), Environmental Technician (Environmental Tech), Industrial Pretreatment Program Specialist (IPP Specialist), Lab Technician (Laboratory Technician), Public Health Sanitarian, Sanitarian, Sanitarian Specialist, Soil Lab Technician (Soil Laboratory Technician).
Environmental Compliance Technician Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of an environmental compliance technician include:
- Collect stormwater, wastewater and soil samples on schedule and ship them to certified labs under chain of custody.
- Inspect hazardous waste storage areas weekly; fix missing labels, open containers and blocked aisles on the spot.
- Keep permit logs, monitoring data and training records ready for state and federal inspectors.
- Calibrate pH meters, gas detectors and flow samplers, and log each check.
- Draft monthly discharge monitoring reports and air emission summaries for an engineer to review and sign.
- Walk the site after storms to check drains, spill kits and the containment walls around tanks.
- Respond to small spills, contain the release and document the cleanup for the compliance file.
- Track waste shipments against their manifests and follow up when a signed copy fails to come back.
- Train shop and lab staff on waste labeling, spill response and the permit limits that touch their work.
- Assign sampling routes to junior technicians and review their field sheets when working as the lead.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as an environmental compliance technician, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Field sampling and chain-of-custody procedures
- Working knowledge of EPA and state permit rules, including the Clean Water Act and RCRA
- OSHA HAZWOPER training for hazardous waste work
- Excel and an environmental data or EHS tracking system
- Calibrating and caring for field instruments
- Records kept well enough to survive an inspection
- Comfort working outdoors in any weather and around plant equipment
- A plain way of explaining rules to busy shop-floor staff
Education and Training
Most environmental compliance technicians come in with an associate's degree in environmental technology, chemistry or a related science, but some start out by working as plant operators or lab assistants and learning permits on the job. Employers generally require technicians to be HAZWOPER trained (the OSHA course for hazardous waste work). With experience, a technician can move up to lead technician or into an environmental specialist post.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: $45,820 - $69,910 per year, with a median of $55,090.
The range covers the middle half of earners nationwide. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health.
BLS projects employment of environmental science and protection technicians, the wider group that includes this job, to grow about 7 percent from 2025 to 2035. BLS also expects roughly 5,300 openings a year across the group. Permit work rarely goes away. And, as long as there are discharge permits and waste rules to follow, sites will need technicians to make sure the samples are taken and the records are complete.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Environmental science and protection technicians, including health.
Environmental Compliance Technician Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $38,170 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $45,820 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $55,090 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $69,910 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $94,160 |
Highest-Paying States for Environmental Compliance Technicians
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are Washington ($67,160), Nebraska ($66,240), Connecticut ($66,120), Minnesota ($65,320), Rhode Island ($64,830). Pay is lowest in Alabama ($45,000), South Dakota ($44,180), Mississippi ($35,010).
Median pay in all 49 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $45,000 |
| Alaska | $55,220 |
| Arizona | $57,800 |
| Arkansas | $48,390 |
| California | $61,220 |
| Colorado | $60,930 |
| Connecticut | $66,120 |
| Delaware | $45,720 |
| Florida | $48,840 |
| Georgia | $48,050 |
| Hawaii | $57,010 |
| Idaho | $55,420 |
| Illinois | $59,930 |
| Indiana | $49,020 |
| Iowa | $52,020 |
| Kansas | $47,880 |
| Kentucky | $46,840 |
| Maine | $51,820 |
| Maryland | $55,090 |
| Massachusetts | $59,330 |
| Michigan | $51,290 |
| Minnesota | $65,320 |
| Mississippi | $35,010 |
| Missouri | $50,340 |
| Montana | $60,550 |
| Nebraska | $66,240 |
| Nevada | $60,370 |
| New Hampshire | $54,080 |
| New Jersey | $52,190 |
| New Mexico | $62,330 |
| New York | $62,400 |
| North Carolina | $51,630 |
| North Dakota | $61,430 |
| Ohio | $56,070 |
| Oklahoma | $48,090 |
| Oregon | $58,950 |
| Pennsylvania | $60,650 |
| Rhode Island | $64,830 |
| South Carolina | $48,700 |
| South Dakota | $44,180 |
| Tennessee | $56,960 |
| Texas | $50,710 |
| Utah | $58,240 |
| Vermont | $55,090 |
| Virginia | $49,430 |
| Washington | $67,160 |
| West Virginia | $52,590 |
| Wisconsin | $55,290 |
| Wyoming | $49,440 |
What the Work Is Like
O*NET surveys people who work as environmental science and protection technicians, including health about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:
- 86% use email every day
- 77% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
- 68% are on the phone every day
- 64% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
- 45% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
- 41% spend more than half the workday sitting
- 41% work against deadlines every day
Education Workers Say the Job Needs
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree | 68% |
| Associate's degree | 23% |
Tools and Software Environmental Compliance Technicians Use
Tools and equipment
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy analyzing problems and working with ideas as well as hands-on work with tools, machines or the outdoors.
Skills O*NET rates most important: Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Writing, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Science.
Knowledge areas used most: Customer and Personal Service, Chemistry, English Language, Biology, Law and Government.
Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 4 of 5, which means considerable preparation.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 19-4042.00 (Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health). View on O*NET OnLine.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The Job Explorer has modified some of the information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these changes.