PO Environmental Monitoring & Emissions 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS) measure?
- Real-time stack emissions such as SO2, NOx, CO, and opacity (Correct answer)
- Process feed composition only
- Cooling water temperature
- Plant electrical consumption
Correct answer: Real-time stack emissions such as SO2, NOx, CO, and opacity
CEMS continuously measures and records pollutant concentrations in stack gases to demonstrate compliance with air permit emission limits.
Question 2: What is the primary environmental concern with flaring of hydrocarbon gases?
- Flaring is completely clean and has no environmental impact
- Flaring releases CO2, unburned hydrocarbons, SO2, and NOx into the atmosphere (Correct answer)
- Flaring only produces water vapor
- Flaring creates noise pollution only
Correct answer: Flaring releases CO2, unburned hydrocarbons, SO2, and NOx into the atmosphere
Even an efficient flare generates CO2, and inefficient flaring releases uncombusted hydrocarbons, NOx, and SO2, all of which are regulated air pollutants.
Question 3: Under the EPA's Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule, facilities must develop a plan if they:
- Have any chemical storage regardless of volume
- Store oil in quantities that could reasonably discharge to navigable waters if a spill occurred (Correct answer)
- Process more than 1,000 barrels per day
- Have more than 10 employees
Correct answer: Store oil in quantities that could reasonably discharge to navigable waters if a spill occurred
SPCC plans are required for facilities that store oil above regulatory thresholds and where a spill could reach navigable US waters.
Question 4: Which regulation primarily governs the management and disposal of hazardous waste at US industrial facilities?
- Clean Air Act (CAA)
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (Correct answer)
- Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
- Clean Water Act (CWA)
Correct answer: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
RCRA establishes the framework for proper management of hazardous waste from generation through disposal to protect human health and the environment.
Question 5: What is a Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) program designed to do?
- Detect and repair leaks in cooling water circuits
- Identify and fix fugitive VOC emissions from process equipment components (Correct answer)
- Monitor groundwater around the plant perimeter
- Inspect structural integrity of storage tanks
Correct answer: Identify and fix fugitive VOC emissions from process equipment components
LDAR programs use periodic monitoring of valves, connectors, pumps, and other components to detect and repair fugitive VOC leaks per EPA Method 21.
Question 6: When a process unit exceeds its permitted air emission limit, the operator must:
- Continue operation and report at the next annual report
- Document the exceedance and notify the appropriate regulatory authority within the required timeframe (Correct answer)
- Permanently shut down the unit
- Increase scrubber flow to compensate retroactively
Correct answer: Document the exceedance and notify the appropriate regulatory authority within the required timeframe
Permit exceedances must be documented and reported to the regulatory authority within specified timeframes as required by the facility's air permit.
PO Environmental Monitoring & Emissions 1
What does a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS) measure?