Environmental compliance done right

Welcome to Encamp’s “Day in the Life ” blog series, where we interview one of our Happy Encampers and give you a sneak peek into their life, career, and passion for environmental compliance. 

This week, we’re introducing you to Jackie Velazquez, P.E. our Director of Environmental Compliance. Jackie’s devotion to protecting the environment and her deep understanding of industry challenges is the perfect addition to Encamp’s mission of creating a world where good for business can also equal good for the environment.  

Hi, Jackie! What does a typical day look like for you?

At Encamp, the Compliance team provides two main functions: first, building and maintaining datasets that allow our technology to reference the most up-to-date environmental regulations, and second, providing compliance support to our Customer Success team as they onboard and assist clients with preparing and filing reports. Most of my daily tasks are focused around these two items, whether I’m reviewing regulations to ensure our software logic reflects an accurate interpretation of a rule, or responding to a site-specific customer request. In the background, there’s compliance continuous improvement — always looking for ways to reduce risk for the company and our customers.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your experience in Environmental Compliance prior to Encamp?

My career started in environmental consulting, getting field experience before transitioning to a focus on construction permitting and ongoing environmental compliance. After moving to Ford Motor Company in Detroit to provide compliance and sustainability support for new product manufacturing, I spent six years with Marathon Petroleum. I was stationed in several states for Marathon, managing all environmental compliance programs for terminal facilities, supervising the terminals compliance group, and eventually working in corporate regulatory advocacy and managing air programs at their Detroit Refinery.

What sparked your passion for the environment?

I grew up in northern Wisconsin near the shore of Lake Michigan, and I’ve always felt a strong connection to the Great Lakes. My career has allowed me opportunities to assist at chemical releases, remediation sites, and industrial facilities across the country, so I understand the challenges that industry faces in protecting our land and water.

“When environmental compliance is done right, what’s good for the natural environment is good for business.”

What do you enjoy most about working at Encamp?

I love the scope of the problems that we’re helping our customers solve. The question isn’t “How can I get this customer through this particular report?”, it’s “How can we make this process easier and more accurate for everyone?”

The depth of experience on the Customer Success and Compliance team is incredible — we have expertise in every state and a broad range of industries, which makes big picture problem solving possible.

What’s the most innovative advancement you’re seeing in how EHS managers are using technology today?

As process control and monitoring instrumentation becomes more affordable and advanced, operations and EHS managers have more visibility into facility performance than ever before. More data for process monitoring means more data to verify compliance in real-time and to prevent deviations before they occur. Furthermore, as data interfaces and dashboards are easier to create and maintain, EHS managers and professionals can monitor trends, optimize for sustainability metrics, and track compliance quickly and easily.

What excites you the most about the future of Environmental Compliance?

Absolutely, the role of technology. While creating and storing data should be done thoughtfully, it creates new opportunities for tracking leading indicators and preventing deviations in ways that were never possible before. Not coincidentally, at the same time, environmental compliance and sustainability metrics are gaining more visibility in company boardrooms and stockholder meetings. The work we’re doing at Encamp fits perfectly into this trend — when the compliance data that companies are able to provide to company leadership and outside regulators continues to become more accurate, everyone is able to do their jobs better as a result.

If you could give one piece of advice for anyone considering entering the field of Environmental Compliance, what would it be? 

There’s room for everyone in the environmental compliance field, and it’s incredibly broad. If you love being outdoors, there are opportunities in site remediation and emergency response. If you love working with people, being an onsite EHS professional allows you to provide training and come up with creative ways to communicate complex rules to others. There are also incredibly technical areas, like air dispersion modeling and Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), where people with math and computing skills shine. By working in various roles and industries, you’ll develop a variety of skills and be exposed to different program areas — there’s room for specialists, but there are also plenty of opportunities to develop your compliance skillset more broadly.

Transforming the way enterprises stay in compliance

Encamp is on a mission to create a world where good for business can equal good for the environment. We help enterprises transform compliance programs and human processes into a technology-driven system that lays the foundation for accurate and ongoing environmental compliance through a blended method of intelligent high-tech solutions and high-touch expert support.

All the ways Encamp is here to help

To get started on your path of Guided Environmental Compliance, talk with one of our Encamp Specialists at (463) 900-5580.