Taking my DEQ exam in about 6 weeks and I'm honestly a little lost on how to structure the last stretch of prep. I've been working in environmental compliance for 3 years but the formal exam covers a lot of regulatory content I haven't touched since college. Anyone have a sense of how the questions break down between federal vs. state-specific regs?
I've been putting in about 2 hours a day on weeknights and 4-5 hours on weekends. My practice scores are sitting around 61-65% and I've heard you need at least 70% to pass, so I'm cutting it close. The Clean Water Act and RCRA sections feel solid but I'm really struggling with the air quality permitting content.
Has anyone used the official study guide versus third-party materials? I don't want to waste time on content that won't show up. Any advice on prioritizing the last few weeks would be huge.
I'd carve out a dedicated weekend to just do air quality questions back to back. That's what finally clicked it for me. Also make sure you know the NAAQS pollutants and their limits cold - those came up constantly on my exam.
I passed mine last fall with a 74% after about 8 weeks of prep. The air quality section tripped me up too - I'd spend at least 6-8 hours specifically on Title V permits and the PSD/NSR thresholds. They show up more than you'd think.
Practice tests were the most useful thing for me. Doing 20-30 questions a night and reviewing every wrong answer helped more than re-reading the material.
Don't stress too much about state-specific stuff unless you know which state's exam you're taking - some DEQ exams are state-administered and vary a lot. Federal baseline content like RCRA, CWA, and CAA is almost always fair game. 61-65% at 6 weeks out is workable.
The official prep materials are worth it for the question format even if some content feels dated. Third-party stuff can have errors, so double-check anything that seems off against the actual reg text before you internalize it.