CEA Risk Management & Environmental Impact 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which U.S. law requires facilities to report annual releases of listed toxic chemicals to federal and state authorities, creating a public database?
- CERCLA Section 103
- EPCRA Section 313 (Toxics Release Inventory) (Correct answer)
- CAA Title V
- RCRA Section 3002
Correct answer: EPCRA Section 313 (Toxics Release Inventory)
EPCRA Section 313 requires manufacturing and other facilities to report annual toxic chemical releases to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) database.
Question 2: In a quantitative risk assessment, what term describes the mathematical combination of risk estimates across multiple exposure routes (ingestion, inhalation, dermal)?
- Cumulative Risk (Correct answer)
- Hazard Quotient
- Margin of Exposure
- Background Risk
Correct answer: Cumulative Risk
Cumulative risk aggregates risk contributions from all relevant exposure pathways and stressors to estimate total risk to an individual or population.
Question 3: Which type of environmental insurance covers third-party bodily injury and property damage claims arising from pollutant releases from a covered location?
- Contractor's Pollution Liability (CPL)
- Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) (Correct answer)
- Remediation Cost Cap
- Environmental Professional Errors and Omissions
Correct answer: Pollution Legal Liability (PLL)
Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) covers third-party claims and cleanup costs associated with sudden or gradual pollution conditions at a specific owned or leased site.
Question 4: A facility's environmental management system (EMS) follows ISO 14001. During an internal audit, an auditor finds that a significant environmental aspect has no documented operational control. This is classified as:
- An observation
- An opportunity for improvement
- A nonconformity (Correct answer)
- A corrective action request for a minor deviation
Correct answer: A nonconformity
ISO 14001 requires documented operational controls for significant aspects; their absence is a nonconformity with the standard's requirements.
Question 5: Which fate and transport mechanism causes organic contaminants to move from soil pore water onto soil particle surfaces, reducing their bioavailability?
- Volatilization
- Biodegradation
- Sorption (Correct answer)
- Leaching
Correct answer: Sorption
Sorption is the process by which dissolved organic contaminants bind to soil organic matter or mineral surfaces, lowering their concentration in pore water and reducing mobility.
Question 6: Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), what triggers a facility's obligation to notify the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) of an extremely hazardous substance release?
- Any release regardless of quantity
- A release that equals or exceeds the reportable quantity for that substance (Correct answer)
- A release that crosses a facility fence line
- A release detected by community air monitors
Correct answer: A release that equals or exceeds the reportable quantity for that substance
EPCRA Section 304 requires immediate notification to the LEPC and State Emergency Response Commission when a release of an extremely hazardous substance meets or exceeds its reportable quantity.
Question 7: What is the purpose of a sensitivity analysis in a quantitative human health risk assessment?
- To determine which contaminants exceed cleanup standards
- To identify which input parameters most strongly influence the risk estimate (Correct answer)
- To calculate background cancer rates in the study population
- To confirm that laboratory analytical methods are sufficiently sensitive
Correct answer: To identify which input parameters most strongly influence the risk estimate
Sensitivity analysis systematically varies input assumptions to identify which parameters (e.g., exposure frequency, body weight) have the greatest effect on the final risk estimate.
CEA Risk Management & Environmental Impact 3
Which U.S. law requires facilities to report annual releases of listed toxic chemicals to federal and state authorities, creating a public database?