HSE Environmental Compliance 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which environmental law gives citizens and environmental groups the right to sue polluters or EPA directly for failure to enforce regulations?
- NEPA
- Citizen suit provisions under CAA, CWA, and RCRA (Correct answer)
- CERCLA Section 106
- EPCRA Section 313
Correct answer: Citizen suit provisions under CAA, CWA, and RCRA
The Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and RCRA all contain citizen suit provisions allowing private parties to sue violators or EPA for failure to perform non-discretionary duties.
Question 2: A facility is required to develop a Risk Management Plan (RMP) under Clean Air Act Section 112(r). What is the primary trigger?
- Emitting any listed hazardous air pollutant
- Storing regulated substances above threshold quantities that pose worst-case accident risks (Correct answer)
- Exceeding NAAQS for any criteria pollutant
- Generating more than 1,000 kg of hazardous waste per month
Correct answer: Storing regulated substances above threshold quantities that pose worst-case accident risks
CAA Section 112(r) RMP requirements are triggered when a facility holds regulated substances (flammable, toxic, or explosive) above EPA threshold quantities, requiring accident prevention programs.
Question 3: Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which federal agency is primarily responsible for listing terrestrial and freshwater species and designating critical habitat?
- EPA
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) (Correct answer)
- NOAA Fisheries
- Army Corps of Engineers
Correct answer: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers ESA protections for most terrestrial and freshwater species, while NOAA Fisheries covers most marine and anadromous species.
Question 4: A company discovers that a contractor illegally dumped hazardous waste on their property without the company's knowledge. Under CERCLA, is the property owner liable?
- No, only the contractor who dumped the waste is liable
- Yes, current owners are generally liable unless they qualify for an innocent landowner defense (Correct answer)
- No, liability requires knowledge of the dumping
- Yes, but only for cleanup costs incurred after discovery
Correct answer: Yes, current owners are generally liable unless they qualify for an innocent landowner defense
CERCLA imposes strict liability on current property owners, but the innocent landowner defense may apply if they conducted all appropriate inquiries before purchase and had no knowledge of contamination.
Question 5: Which record-keeping requirement under RCRA mandates that large quantity generators maintain hazardous waste training records for current employees plus former employees for how long?
- 1 year after employment ends
- 3 years after employment ends (Correct answer)
- 5 years after employment ends
- Permanently
Correct answer: 3 years after employment ends
RCRA LQG regulations at 40 CFR 265.16 require training records to be kept for current personnel and for at least 3 years after employees leave the facility.
Question 6: Under the Clean Water Act, which permit condition establishes technology-based limits for industrial dischargers based on the best available technology economically achievable?
- Water Quality-Based Effluent Limits (WQBELs)
- Technology-Based Effluent Limits (TBELs) using BAT (Correct answer)
- Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
- Narrative Effluent Standards
Correct answer: Technology-Based Effluent Limits (TBELs) using BAT
Technology-Based Effluent Limits based on Best Available Technology (BAT) Economically Achievable set the floor for industrial discharger permits under the Clean Water Act.
Question 7: A manufacturing facility's environmental management system (EMS) follows the ISO 14001 standard. What is the foundation of continual improvement in this framework?
- Annual third-party audits and penalties for non-conformance
- The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle (Correct answer)
- Mandatory regulatory reporting to ISO headquarters
- Zero-tolerance enforcement by facility inspectors
Correct answer: The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle
ISO 14001 EMS is built on the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, which drives continual environmental performance improvement through iterative planning, implementation, evaluation, and correction.
HSE Environmental Compliance 5
Which environmental law gives citizens and environmental groups the right to sue polluters or EPA directly for failure to enforce regulations?