Taylor Wheelon is an environmental scientist with over five years of professional experience specializing in air regulatory compliance and permitting. Taylor has a demonstrated history of working in the environmental services industry with experience in permitting, compliance, annual emissions reporting, site visits, and relationship management between the facility and district. She successfully navigates the permitting and compliance process by building strong client relationships, working closely with the facility staff throughout the project, and collaborating with regulatory agencies.
What do you find most rewarding about the work that you do?
I find that the most rewarding element of my job is the new relationships I get to make with industry staff. It’s one thing to know a rule or regulation and tell someone what they need to do or if they are doing it correctly; it’s another thing entirely for the individual that you are working with to trust you and believe that you have their best interest at heart. This is where I really begin to see the consultant-client relationship start to form, and I truly enjoy it. It makes me happy when a client calls me and the first thing we do is check in with each other and ask how everything’s going. That discussion of course eventually turns into a work-related question they may have, but it demonstrates a meaningful personal relationship as well as a professional one.
I also really enjoy when I get to dive into the inner workings of a facility, learning what it takes for them to operate and how they do what they do. I love the tv show “How It’s Made” and I feel as if I’m receiving the VIP experience when I get a facility preview of “How It’s Made” in real life!
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working with a facility and their Title V permit. It’s a multi-step process that started with a compliance calendar/matrix. The matrix consisted of a workbook that organized the permit by different regulations and requirements, like non-applicability, emissions, production and throughput limits, as well as recordkeeping and reporting requirements for each piece of equipment and equipment unit. We are now in the process of extrapolating this data and turning it into programmable items for their OSI PI system. This process will hopefully lead to streamlined data collection and management for record keeping and compliance assurance.
How can our clients benefit from this service/particular innovation?
An abundance of work goes into site-wide facility compliance. Like many tasks in our everyday life, it’s easy to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment for an annual physical or to file our taxes; however, it is also just as easy to fall behind on these tasks if you aren’t keeping up with your weekly calendar to notice that a year has already flown by! This applies to facilities as well, in order to stay on top of routine follow-ups and compliance requirements. From an air standpoint, this includes general maintenance requirements to keep the facility operational, semiannual tune-ups, source testing, emissions testing, and a significant amount of recordkeeping and detailed reporting. Not staying on top of these items can cause major problems for the facility, resulting not only in operational problems but also potential notices of violation, fines, and even shut down by regulatory agencies. Well-organized compliance calendars and matrices can help plant workers and environmental managers track these requirements to ensure that their facility is operating in compliance.
When you were 10 years old, what did you aspire to do for a career?
When I was 10 years old, I aspired to do something outdoors, particularly photography. I love(d) exploring and going on road trips. I spent the spring and winter months skiing at Mammoth Mountain in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the fall and summer seasons off-roading and hiking, all while lugging around my 35mm SLR Nikon camera and about 20 rolls of black and white film. My grandfather, who was an amateur photographer, was the primary source of my inspiration, and I was lucky enough to have his camera gear handed down to me. Although it is not my career, photography still brings me much joy to this day. I have since upgraded to a Digital-SLR, which has helped cut a considerable amount of weight from hiking and backpacking trips in the same areas in which I started my adventures!
