Practice Test GeeksCPP - Certified Permitting Professional Practice Test
← All CPP Flashcard Decks

Risk Management & Mitigation Flashcards

6 cards from real CPP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 6 Risk Management & Mitigation flashcards as text

  1. What is the 'Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)' most commonly known as, and when does it affect permitting?

    Answer: Superfund; it affects permitting when a project site has or may have contamination requiring cleanup or when acquiring potentially contaminated property

    CERCLA (Superfund) imposes strict, joint, and several liability for hazardous substance cleanup; permitting professionals must assess Superfund liability when siting projects on or near contaminated properties.

  2. What is a 'Phase I Environmental Site Assessment' and how does it relate to risk management in permitting?

    Answer: A records review and site inspection to identify Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs) and CERCLA liability risks, conducted before property acquisition or development

    A Phase I ESA (ASTM E1527-21) identifies RECs through historical records, regulatory database review, and site inspection; finding no RECs supports an 'innocent landowner' defense under CERCLA.

  3. What is an 'adaptive management' approach in environmental permitting?

    Answer: A framework for adjusting permit conditions and mitigation measures based on monitoring data and feedback to achieve environmental goals under uncertainty

    Adaptive management builds monitoring and decision triggers into permits, allowing conditions to be adjusted as new information shows whether management actions are achieving their objectives.

  4. Which Clean Water Act program requires industrial facilities to develop Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans?

    Answer: 40 CFR Part 112 (Oil Pollution Prevention) requires SPCC plans for facilities with oil storage above threshold quantities that could discharge to navigable waters

    40 CFR Part 112 requires SPCC plans for facilities storing ≥1,320 gallons of oil (or ≥660 gallons in a single container) if a discharge could reach navigable waters.

  5. What is the 'reasonable worst case scenario' concept in risk assessment for hazardous facility permits?

    Answer: An EPA methodology under Risk Management Planning (RMP) that models the worst-case credible release of hazardous chemicals to assess off-site impacts

    EPA's RMP rule (40 CFR Part 68) requires facilities with regulated substances to analyze worst-case release scenarios and alternate scenarios to assess community risk and plan emergency responses.

  6. What is 'permit by rule' and how does it manage regulatory risk for routine operations?

    Answer: A pre-established permit category where operations meeting specified criteria are automatically authorized without individual application, reducing compliance uncertainty

    Permit-by-rule provisions (common in air and stormwater programs) authorize routine, low-risk activities under preset conditions, streamlining compliance and reducing permitting risk for qualifying operations.