REAC Qualifying Exam case studies
REAC Qualifying Exam · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The REAC Qualifying Exam is a professional credentialing assessment for people who work - or intend to work - in environmental assessment and compliance roles: environmental consultants, regulatory specialists, laboratory and field staff, auditors, and environmental coordinators in industry or government. Its purpose is to confirm that a candidate can apply environmental principles within a legal and procedural framework, and can produce defensible data and documentation rather than merely recognize terminology. The exam is delivered as multiple choice and is organized around six content domains: regulatory and legal framework; environmental assessment principles; sampling, measurement, and monitoring; data quality and quality assurance; environmental reporting and documentation; and professional ethics and compliance. Regulatory, assessment, and sampling content carry the largest shares, so the exam rewards candidates who understand how a legal requirement translates into a monitoring plan, and how that plan's results become a report. The REAC Qualifying Exam case studies are 5 cases and about 3,459 words.
1The Missing UST Closure Letter
You are conducting a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for a 2.4-acre parcel in a Midwestern state. The client plans to acquire it for a childcare center.
611 words, about 3 min2Categorical Exclusion Under Pressure
A county proposes a 14-mile, 69-kV transmission line to serve a new data center. The route crosses 1.2 acres of emergent wetland, 3.5 acres of prime farmland, and runs 0.4 mile along a designated scenic river.
718 words, about 4 min3The Arsenic Exceedance at MW-7
At a closed municipal landfill, semiannual groundwater monitoring has returned arsenic at 0.014 mg/L in monitoring well MW-7, exceeding the 0.010 mg/L MCL. Turbidity is 210 NTU, dissolved oxygen 0.8 mg/L, pH 6.4, and specific conductance 640 µS/cm.
699 words, about 3 min4When the Blank Tells a Story
Your firm is validating soil data for a risk assessment at a former dry cleaner. Twelve samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds.
724 words, about 4 min5Sign-Off on a Borrowed Report
You are a REAC asked to review and sign a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment for a client's lender. The report was written by a junior geologist who has left the firm.
707 words, about 4 min