Business and Financial Operations · Holland code CIR

Environmental Compliance Inspectors

Inspect and investigate sources of pollution to protect the public and environment and ensure conformance with Federal, State, and local regulations and ordinances.

Also called: Enforcement Officer, Environmental Inspector, Environmental Protection Specialist, Environmental Quality Analyst, Air Permitting and Enforcement Inspector, Compliance Investigator, Environmental Compliance Inspector, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Enforcement Officer (RCRA Enforcement Officer).

O*NET 13-1041.01

At a glance

US median annual pay: $80,730; Middle half earn $61,280 to $109,010. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 75% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +3% · As fast as average; 418,000 jobs in 2024, projected 430,300. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Compliance officers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Determine the nature of code violations and actions to be taken, and issue written notices of violation, participating in enforcement hearings, as necessary.
Prepare, organize, and maintain inspection records.
Investigate complaints and suspected violations regarding illegal dumping, pollution, pesticides, product quality, or labeling laws.
Determine which sites and violation reports to investigate, and coordinate compliance and enforcement activities with other government agencies.
Interview individuals to determine the nature of suspected violations and to obtain evidence of violations.
Inform individuals and groups of pollution control regulations and inspection findings, and explain how problems can be corrected.
Verify that hazardous chemicals are handled, stored, and disposed of in accordance with regulations.
Inspect waste pretreatment, treatment, and disposal facilities and systems for conformance to federal, state, or local regulations.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Active Listening3.9 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Speaking3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.2 / 5
Law and Government4.1 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.5 / 5
Chemistry3.4 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5
Mathematics3.1 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic60
Investigative63
Artistic1
Social23
Enterprising37
Conventional81

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

environmental protection manager · DE Umweltschutzmanager/Umweltschutzmanagerin · FR directeur de la protection de l'environnement/directrice de la protection de l'environnement
environmental programme coordinator · DE Programmkoordinator Umwelt/Programmkoordinatorin Umwelt · FR coordonnateur de programmes environnementaux/coordonnatrice de programmes environnementaux
environmental expert · DE Umweltexperte/Umweltexpertin · FR ingénieur environnement/ingénieure environnement
environmental technician · DE Umweltschutztechniker/Umweltschutztechnikerin · FR technicien de l’environnement/technicienne de l’environnement
air pollution analyst · DE Luftverschmutzungsanalyst/Luftverschmutzungsanalystin · FR surveillant de la pollution de l’air/surveillante de la pollution de l’air
groundwater monitoring technician · DE Grundwasserüberwachungstechniker/Grundwasserüberwachungstechnikerin · FR technicien de la qualité de l’eau/technicienne de la qualité de l’eau

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
Conservation professionals (2151)21,900 employed
Environment professionals (2152)80,200 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.70. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (13-1041).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test