Energy and Environmental Protection Office Director (Legal) for Environmental Quality

Are you an Attorney who is committed to making Connecticut a great place to live and work?

The State of Connecticut, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's (DEEP) Office of Legal Counsel has an exciting opportunity for an Office Director (Legal) position. Specifically, this position will lead the legal team supporting the Environmental Quality Branch and its programs. 

The Office of Legal Counsel, in the Office of the Commissioner, serves the diverse and interesting legal needs of all three branches of the agency. Those branches are Environmental Quality (EQ), which includes air, materials management, and water programs; Environmental Conservation (EC), including the natural resources and outdoor recreation bureaus; and Energy, including the offices of energy supply, energy demand, and buildings and transportation decarbonization within the Bureau of Energy and Technology Policy (BETP). 

The Office of Legal Counsel also provides legal services related to public contracting and procurement, purchases of real property, leases, grants, requests for proposals and a variety of other transactional matters. The legal team provides advice and support to the Commissioner and agency personnel in regard to legislation, regulations, permits, enforcement, petitions for declaratory ruling, ethics, employment, and open records matters, among other things. In-house legal personnel work closely with the Office of the Attorney General on state and federal litigation, claims before the Office of the Claims Commissioner, regulations, and contracts. The in-house legal staff represent the Department before entities such as the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Department of Energy, and other federal and state administrative agencies.

If you are licensed to practice law in the State of CT and looking for the next role in your legal career, we invite you to explore this opportunity and apply! 

POSITION HIGHLIGHTS

• LOCATION: this position is based in Hartford, CT and offers some flexibility for a hybrid work schedule.
• SCHEDULE: this is a full-time position, 40 hours per week.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

• Visit our NEW State Employee Benefits Overview page!
• Professional growth and development opportunities;
• A healthy work/life balance to all employees;
• The State of Connecticut is an eligible Public Service Loan Forgiveness employer, meaning you may be eligible to have qualifying student loans forgiven after 10 years of service. Click here for more information.

OUR AGENCY

DEEP is charged with conserving, improving and protecting the natural resources and the environment of the state of Connecticut as well as making cheaper, cleaner and more reliable energy available for the people and businesses of the state. The agency is also committed to playing a positive role in rebuilding Connecticut's economy and creating jobs - and to fostering a sustainable and prosperous economic future for the state. 

You may learn more about DEEP here. 

YOUR ROLE

The Office Director (Legal) has a particular focus on supporting the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner of the Environmental Quality Branch, and the personnel within the Bureaus of Air Management (Air), Water Protection and Land Reuse (WPLR), and Materials Management and Compliance Assurance (MMCA). This position, along with the staff it oversees, plays a key role in providing legal support on both state and federal environmental programs, addressing and resolving enforcement cases; assessing legal issues that arise in permitting matters; supporting the commissioner, deputy commissioner and agency employees in administrative proceedings; reviewing petitions for declaratory rulings and drafting responses and decisions; drafting and reviewing regulations and legislation; and fielding the day to day legal questions that arise.

Functions of this position include, but are not limited to:

• Providing legal guidance to and representation of the Commissioner or agency personnel to help achieve programmatic goals of clean water, clean air, waste minimization, remediation of pollution and adaptation to climate change;
• Reviewing, drafting and implementing statutes and regulations that have direct impacts on human health and the environment, including discharges to water, emissions to air, coastal issues, and management of both solid and hazardous waste;
• Reviewing and understanding the overlapping federal and state jurisdictions and working to ensure that state programs approved by the federal government remain eligible for federal funding. This includes, but is not limited to, the state’s water, air, PCB, underground storage tank, and hazardous waste programs;
• Assisting with a multitude of permitting programs and enforcement matters to help ensure consistency in the application of administrative and programmatic requirements;
• Communicating with other branches of government, such as the Governor’s Office or the Office of the Attorney General, to provide notice of significant matters or seek direction on significant policy and legal strategy decisions.
• Supporting the bureaus’ enforcement efforts to include drafting, negotiating and reviewing consent orders, and;
• Managing a team of attorneys with similar responsibilities as listed above.

More details can be found in the class specification.