ECMC - Enforcement Advisor; Compliance Specialist IV

Enforcement Advisor

This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application.

Are you interested in investing in a career that makes a difference? Consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. It's our mission to manage and conserve Colorado's natural resources for the benefit of people today – and tomorrow. That means we have to balance development with conservation so the state we all love provides similar opportunities for our children and their children.

We invite you to explore our website at dnr.colorado.gov/about-us to find out more about the work we do to manage Colorado's natural resources for today – and tomorrow. The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply.

In addition to offering rewarding, meaningful work, we offer:

• Medical, Vision and Dental plans
• Strong, flexible retirement plans including PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus pre-tax and Roth 401K and 457 plans
• Paid life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• Employee Wellness programs
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Health Savings Accounts
• 11 paid holidays per year plus generous vacation and sick leave
• Flexible work schedule options and remote-work options
• Career advancement opportunities throughout the State system
• Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

The Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) regulates the development and production of Colorado's natural resources, including oil and gas, geothermal energy, and carbon capture and storage. The ECMC's mission is to do so in a way that protects the environment, public health, safety, and welfare. The Enforcement Unit exists to ensure that the exploration for and development of Colorado's oil and gas and deep geothermal resources, and the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide, is done safely and in a manner that protects public health, safety, welfare, the environment, and wildlife resources.

ECMC rules are designed to ensure these potentially dangerous activities are conducted in the safest manner possible and the Enforcement Unit brings non-compliant operators back into compliance as quickly as possible while providing technical knowledge and guidance to the regulated community, ECMC Staff, and external stakeholders. If compliance cannot be reached through outreach, training, or the issuance of corrective actions or warning letters, a notice of alleged violation ("NOAV") is issued to formally demand compliance.

NOAVs initiate a formal hearing process managed by the Enforcement Unit. The team includes enforcement advisors, enforcement supervisors, an NOAV Specialist, and the unit manager.

This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application.

The purpose of the Enforcement Advisor position is to engage in negotiations to bring non-compliant operators into compliance as quickly as possible, and/or determine what corrective actions or penalties are required to remedy any damage to public health, safety, welfare, the environment, and wildlife resources due to operator non-compliance. This position litigates allegations of non-compliance identified by other ECMC staff through negotiated settlements and contested hearings, assembling and leading teams of subject matter experts and lawyers.

This position serves as a Work Lead for enforcement actions brought by the Engineering Unit to ensure accuracy, consistency, and timeliness where non-compliance is identified by that team.

Specific job duties include but are not limited to:

• Prepare notices for hearing, draft Administrative Orders by Consent (AOC's), manage enforcement cases from beginning to end, directly negotiate AOCs to resolution and prepare settlement documents to resolve enforcement actions.
• This position works with the operator (or its attorney) and ECMC staff to ensure that all violations by the operator are well-documented, that the appropriate corrective action and penalty assessed are included, and that any additional information that can be provided by the operator is incorporated into the final AOC.
• Will identify witnesses and exhibits, prepare witnesses, prepare direct and cross examination, prepare opening and closing statements, and prepare draft and final Commission enforcement orders.
• Assist and consult with management to provide technical staff operational guidance and direction on the ECMC enforcement and compliance program and the issuance of Notices of Alleged Violation (NOAVs).
• Work with engineering, environmental, compliance, permitting, production, and financial assurance units to implement a consistent approach to compliance and the initiation of enforcement actions by issuance of NOAVs.
• Training,…