REM study plan
REM · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Regulatory and Legal Requirements
Map the U.S. federal environmental statutory framework (CAA, CWA, RCRA, CERCLA, EPCRA, TSCA) to the agencies and enforcement mechanisms that administer each
Differentiate the roles of EPA, state primacy agencies, and delegated local programs in permitting and enforcement
Outline the citizen-suit and administrative-penalty provisions that create liability exposure for regulated entities
Identify the recordkeeping and reporting triggers under EPCRA and CERCLA that apply to a typical industrial facility
Your checkpoint
One-page statutory crosswalk table listing each major law, its implementing agency, key permit or reporting obligation, and penalty range, with at least 10 rows
Regulatory and Legal Requirements & Environmental Management and Compliance
Interpret the structure of a facility operating permit (air, water, hazardous waste) and locate the enforceable conditions within it
Explain how permit exceedances become violations and how enforcement discretion and consent agreements work
Describe the inspection process and the rights and obligations of the facility during an agency inspection
Connect compliance obligations to the environmental management activities that generate them
Your checkpoint
Annotated sample permit outline (air or water) with at least 8 enforceable conditions flagged and a short note on the compliance task each condition drives
Environmental Management and Compliance
Build an aspect-and-impact register for a hypothetical facility, scoring significance using likelihood and severity criteria
Determine applicable legal and other requirements from the register and link each to a specific obligation
Design objectives and targets that address the most significant aspects
Outline an operational-control procedure for one significant aspect
Your checkpoint
Completed aspect-impact register with at least 15 aspects, significance scores, and a legal-requirements cross-reference column
Environmental Management and Compliance & Management Systems and Professional Ethics
Draft an emergency preparedness and response procedure covering spill, release, and air-emission scenarios
Describe monitoring and measurement requirements and how calibration and data quality are maintained
Explain the evaluation-of-compliance process and how nonconformity is corrected
Identify the management-review inputs and outputs that close the continual-improvement loop
Your checkpoint
Emergency response procedure draft (1–2 pages) plus a compliance-evaluation checklist with at least 10 verification questions
Environmental Science and Technology
Explain the fate and transport of common air pollutants (particulates, NOx, SO2, VOCs) and the control technologies applied to each
Describe wastewater treatment train components and the meaning of BOD, COD, TSS, and permit limits
Differentiate hazardous-waste characteristics (ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, toxicity) and the generator-status categories
Outline the hierarchy of waste management (source reduction, reuse, recycling, treatment, disposal) and apply it to a facility stream
Your checkpoint
A technology-selection matrix matching at least 6 pollutant or waste streams to appropriate control or treatment technologies with a one-line rationale each
Environmental Science and Technology & Environmental Management and Compliance
Interpret sampling and monitoring data, including detection limits, QA/QC, and chain-of-custody requirements
Explain the purpose and structure of a Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessment
Describe how air dispersion modeling, groundwater monitoring, and stack testing support compliance demonstration
Evaluate a spill or release scenario using basic mass-balance and exposure-pathway reasoning
Your checkpoint
A monitoring plan outline for one medium (air, water, or soil) covering parameters, methods, frequency, QA/QC, and reporting
Management Systems and Professional Ethics
Map the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to the clauses of an environmental management system standard and explain the intent of each clause group
Differentiate conformance, compliance, and nonconformity and classify findings by severity
Describe the audit process from audit plan through corrective-action verification
Apply a professional code of ethics to at least three realistic conflict scenarios (data suppression, client pressure, reporting integrity)
Your checkpoint
A mock internal audit report on a hypothetical facility with at least 5 findings classified by severity and linked to EMS clauses, plus a 1-paragraph ethical-reasoning note
Environmental Management and Compliance & Environmental Science and Technology & Regulatory and Legal Requirements & Management Systems and Professional Ethics
Synthesize all four domains by working through integrated case scenarios that combine regulatory, technical, and management-system elements
Diagnose and correct weak areas identified in earlier deliverables
Practice timed decision-making on scenario questions with justification for each answer
Finalize a personal reference sheet of key limits, definitions, and process steps for last-week review
Your checkpoint
A 40-question self-authored practice set across all four domains with answer rationales, scored at 80% or better
Milestones
Week 2: Can state, without notes, the agency and primary obligation for each of the six major federal environmental statutes and explain how a permit condition becomes an enforceable violation
Week 4: Can produce a complete aspect-impact register and trace any significant aspect through legal requirement, objective, operational control, and compliance evaluation
Week 6: Can select an appropriate control or treatment technology for a given pollutant or waste stream and justify the choice with fate-and-transport or treatability reasoning
Week 8: Scores 80% or higher on the self-authored 40-question practice set and can articulate the ethical and management-system implications of at least three scenario decisions