CEP Sustainability & Resource Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which metric is commonly used to measure a community's overall environmental impact relative to the Earth's biological capacity to regenerate resources?
- Carbon footprint
- Ecological footprint (Correct answer)
- Life cycle assessment score
- Environmental performance index
Correct answer: Ecological footprint
The ecological footprint measures the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to support a population's resource consumption and waste absorption.
Question 2: A planner is evaluating a wind energy project near a raptor migration corridor. Which federal law most directly requires consideration of bird mortality risks?
- Clean Air Act
- Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Correct answer)
- Endangered Species Act
- National Environmental Policy Act
Correct answer: Migratory Bird Treaty Act
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the unpermitted take of protected migratory birds, making it directly applicable to wind turbine bird mortality concerns.
Question 3: In sustainable forestry, what does 'allowable cut' refer to?
- The maximum tree height permitted near power lines
- The volume of timber that can be harvested without exceeding forest growth rates (Correct answer)
- The percentage of old-growth trees exempt from harvest
- The legal limit on clear-cutting acreage per permit
Correct answer: The volume of timber that can be harvested without exceeding forest growth rates
Allowable cut is the annual timber harvest volume calculated to not exceed the forest's net annual growth, maintaining a sustainable yield over time.
Question 4: Which principle of green building design prioritizes maximizing natural daylight to reduce artificial lighting energy use?
- Passive solar heating
- Daylighting (Correct answer)
- Thermal mass optimization
- Natural ventilation
Correct answer: Daylighting
Daylighting uses building orientation, window placement, light shelves, and skylights to distribute natural light deep into building interiors, reducing electric lighting loads.
Question 5: Under the Clean Water Act Section 404, which agency has primary authority to issue permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into wetlands?
- EPA
- Army Corps of Engineers (Correct answer)
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- Bureau of Land Management
Correct answer: Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers administers the Section 404 permit program, with EPA retaining veto authority over permits with unacceptable environmental impacts.
Question 6: A sustainability plan incorporates 'demand-side management' for energy. What does this approach primarily focus on?
- Building new power generation capacity
- Reducing or shifting consumer energy consumption through efficiency and behavioral change (Correct answer)
- Optimizing transmission grid infrastructure
- Diversifying fuel sources for power plants
Correct answer: Reducing or shifting consumer energy consumption through efficiency and behavioral change
Demand-side management reduces the need for new energy supply by improving efficiency, incentivizing conservation, and shifting peak loads through programs targeting energy users.
Question 7: Which soil conservation practice involves planting different crops in alternating strips across slopes to reduce erosion?
- Contour farming
- Strip cropping (Correct answer)
- Terracing
- Cover cropping
Correct answer: Strip cropping
Strip cropping alternates erosion-resistant crops like grasses with row crops in strips oriented perpendicular to the slope or along contours to slow runoff.
CEP Sustainability & Resource Management 3
Which metric is commonly used to measure a community's overall environmental impact relative to the Earth's biological capacity to regenerate resources?