Risk Management & Environmental Impact Flashcards
7 cards from real CEA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Risk Management & Environmental Impact flashcards as text
Which term describes the process by which contaminants accumulate in an organism at concentrations higher than in its surrounding environment?
Answer: Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation refers to the net accumulation of a contaminant in an organism's tissues to levels exceeding those in the ambient environment.
A risk auditor evaluating a dry-cleaning facility is most concerned about which chemical as a groundwater contaminant due to its persistence and carcinogenicity?
Answer: Tetrachloroethylene (PCE)
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE/PERC) is the primary dry-cleaning solvent and a persistent chlorinated VOC that is classified as a likely human carcinogen by EPA.
In environmental auditing, what does 'due diligence' primarily refer to in the context of property transactions?
Answer: Investigating potential environmental liabilities before acquiring property
Due diligence involves conducting Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments to identify recognized environmental conditions before a property changes hands.
Which exposure pathway is typically the DOMINANT route of concern for children living near contaminated soil sites?
Answer: Incidental ingestion of contaminated soil
Children's hand-to-mouth behavior and time spent in contact with soil make incidental soil ingestion the primary exposure pathway in residential risk assessments for this population.
Which document produced during the CERCLA remedial process formally selects the cleanup remedy for a Superfund site?
Answer: Record of Decision (ROD)
The Record of Decision (ROD) is the EPA's formal, public decision document that selects the preferred remedy based on the RI/FS findings.
An industrial facility's stack emissions are monitored under a Title V permit. Which parameter is used to calculate the mass emission rate of a pollutant?
Answer: Stack gas volumetric flow rate multiplied by pollutant concentration
Mass emission rate (e.g., lb/hr) is calculated by multiplying the measured stack gas flow rate (volume/time) by the measured pollutant concentration.
Which risk management framework developed by EPA integrates problem formulation, analysis, and risk characterization for ecosystems?
Answer: Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (ERA)
EPA's Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (1998) provides the three-phase process—problem formulation, analysis, and risk characterization—for evaluating risks to non-human receptors.