EI Environmental & Sustainability Engineering Flashcards
6 cards from real EI practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 EI Environmental & Sustainability Engineering flashcards as text
What is the primary distinction between a 'wetland' and other water bodies under the Clean Water Act?
Answer: Wetlands are areas saturated by water that support hydrophytic vegetation
Under the CWA, wetlands are characterized by three criteria: hydric soils, hydrophytic vegetation, and hydrological conditions, not simply water depth or location.
Which concept in environmental engineering refers to the ability of a natural system to absorb disturbances and reorganize without undergoing fundamental change?
Answer: Ecological resilience
Ecological resilience describes a system's capacity to absorb stress and disturbance while retaining its essential structure, function, and identity.
In solid waste management, what does 'integrated waste management' prioritize at the top of the waste hierarchy?
Answer: Source reduction and prevention
The waste hierarchy places source reduction (preventing waste from being generated) at the top, followed by reuse, recycling, recovery, and finally disposal.
What is the purpose of a 'detention basin' in stormwater management?
Answer: Temporarily store runoff to reduce peak discharge rates
A detention basin holds stormwater temporarily and releases it slowly to reduce peak flow rates downstream, protecting against flooding and channel erosion.
Which federal agency has primary responsibility for enforcing environmental laws such as NEPA, the Clean Water Act, and RCRA in the United States?
Answer: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The EPA is the primary federal agency responsible for creating and enforcing environmental regulations and ensuring compliance with major environmental statutes.
What is 'eutrophication' in the context of water quality engineering?
Answer: Excessive nutrient enrichment causing algal blooms and oxygen depletion in water bodies
Eutrophication occurs when excess nutrients (primarily nitrogen and phosphorus) cause algal blooms, which upon decomposition deplete dissolved oxygen and harm aquatic life.