Environmental Compliance Flashcards
7 cards from real CRE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Environmental Compliance flashcards as text
Under CERCLA (Superfund), which party is generally NOT considered a potentially responsible party (PRP) for cleanup costs?
Answer: A neighboring property owner with no connection to the waste
CERCLA imposes liability on current/past owners and operators, generators who arranged for disposal, and transporters who selected the site — not unrelated neighboring property owners.
A reliability engineer is evaluating a process change that will reduce coolant water discharge temperature. Which environmental benefit is the primary concern this addresses?
Answer: Preventing thermal pollution in receiving waters
Elevated discharge water temperatures constitute thermal pollution, which can lower dissolved oxygen levels and harm aquatic ecosystems in receiving water bodies.
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) grants EPA authority to regulate which category of substances?
Answer: Industrial chemicals not covered by other statutes
TSCA gives the EPA authority to regulate the manufacture, import, processing, distribution, use, and disposal of industrial chemical substances not already regulated under other statutes.
In environmental compliance auditing, what does a 'corrective action plan' (CAP) primarily document?
Answer: Steps to remediate identified deficiencies and prevent recurrence
A corrective action plan details specific steps, responsibilities, timelines, and verification measures to address non-conformances identified during an environmental audit.
Which type of environmental permit requires facilities to report their total releases of listed toxic chemicals annually to the EPA?
Answer: Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirement
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) under EPCRA Section 313 requires facilities in covered industry sectors to annually report releases and transfers of listed toxic chemicals.
A facility implementing an ISO 14001 EMS conducts a 'significant environmental aspect' determination. What factor is typically NOT part of this evaluation?
Answer: Employee preference for specific work tasks
Significant environmental aspect determinations consider impact severity, likelihood, regulatory requirements, and stakeholder concerns — not employee task preferences.
Which metric is commonly used to track a facility's progress toward reducing its carbon footprint over time?
Answer: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity
GHG emissions intensity (emissions normalized by production output) is a standard metric for tracking carbon footprint reduction relative to production scale.