Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 40% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 64% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 36% of the time, stays with people.
Apply theory and principles of environmental engineering to modify, test, and operate equipment and devices used in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental problems, including waste treatment and site remediation, under the direction of engineering staff or scientists. May assist in the development of environmental remediation devices.
12,190 people do this job in the US. $59,920 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on16 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet10 h
- Stays with people14 h
Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 16 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 10 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 14 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Oversee support staff (about 2 h); Develop work plans, including writing specifications or establishing material, manpower, or facilities needs (about 2 h); Evaluate and select technologies to clean up polluted sites, restore polluted air, water, or soil, or rehabilitate degraded ecosystems (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 64%
- 0%
- 36%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 12%. Today's estimate: 40%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.27% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 84th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 4 of its 23 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.029% to 0.0093% (released February and March 2025); 0.019% to 0.014% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.26% to 0.27% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.029% | 365 of 708 | 4 of 23 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0093% | 517 of 703 | 2 of 23 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.019% | 377 of 655 | 3 of 23 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.013% | 438 of 672 | 3 of 23 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.014% | 447 of 677 | 2 of 23 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.26% | 84 of 434 | 4 of 23 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.27% | 84 of 447 | 4 of 23 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 42% of this job's working time as physical work. For 33% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 23% in a purpose-built cell, 10% in a structured facility. 0.44 of 3, the 332nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 58%
- No robot shown 9%
- In a purpose-built cell 23%
- In a structured facility 10%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 23 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform environmental quality work in field or office settings.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, WSD 4th-generation Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) water quality monitoring and sampling system (Hong Kong Water Supplies Department) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Evaluate and select technologies to clean up polluted sites, restore polluted air, water, or soil, or rehabilitate degraded ecosystems.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 1.7 work days4.2 h to 1 work week | 32%Half by Feb 2027 | |
| Improve chemical processes to reduce toxic emissions.Done more than monthly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.3 work weeks | 28%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Inspect facilities to monitor compliance with regulations governing substances, such as asbestos, lead, or wastewater.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Develop work plans, including writing specifications or establishing material, manpower, or facilities needs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 2.5 work days | 80%Half by now | |
| Provide technical engineering support in the planning of projects, such as wastewater treatment plants, to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and policies.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 44%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Oversee support staff.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Collect and analyze pollution samples, such as air or ground water.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Teledyne ISCO and YSI WS-Series automatic samplers (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Review technical documents to ensure completeness and conformance to requirements.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | 94%Half by now | |
| Assess the ability of environments to naturally remove or reduce conventional or emerging contaminants from air, water, or soil.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA mobile manipulator) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 44%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Maintain process parameters and evaluate process anomalies.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Ammonia-Based Aeration Control (ABAC) system (real-time controller module plus DO, ammonia, TSS and nitrate probes driving four aeration blowers) (Inland Empire Utilities Agency with Cal Poly Pomona) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Review work plans to schedule activities.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health34% now, 65% by 2028
- Environmental Engineers31% now, 58% by 2028
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health21% now, 68% by 2028
- Environmental Compliance Inspectors58% now, 63% by 2028
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators33% now, 33% by 2028
- Water/Wastewater Engineers11% now, 75% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services4,600 people
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services1,980 people
- Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals1,180 people
- Remediation and Other Waste Management Services930 people
- State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals900 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 40% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 64% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (61% to 64% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Oversee support staff (99% of the task's time now); Develop work plans, including writing specifications or establishing material, manpower, or facilities needs (80% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Evaluate and select technologies to clean up polluted sites, restore polluted air, water, or soil, or rehabilitate degraded ecosystems (32% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Perform environmental quality work in field or office settings; Inspect facilities to monitor compliance with regulations governing substances, such as asbestos, lead, or wastewater; and Collect and analyze pollution samples, such as air or ground water. Together such tasks are about 36% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.27% went to this job's tasks, the 84th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 4 of its 23 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 10%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 42% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 33% of the working time, 10% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.44 of 3. One example: WSD 4th-generation Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) water quality monitoring and sampling system for "perform environmental quality work in field or office settings". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 23 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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