REP flashcards
REP · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Title V major source
- An air source emitting 100 tons per year of any criteria pollutant, or 10 or 25 tons per year of a single or combined hazardous air pollutant, depending on category.
- NPDES permit
- A Clean Water Act permit required for point-source discharges to waters of the United States, setting technology-based and water-quality-based effluent limits.
- TCLP test
- The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure, used to determine whether a waste leaches listed contaminants above regulatory levels and is therefore hazardous.
- Reportable quantity
- The release threshold for a hazardous substance under CERCLA; exceeding it requires immediate notification to the National Response Center within 24 hours.
- Tier II reporting
- An annual EPCRA Section 312 submission due March 1 listing hazardous chemicals stored at a facility above threshold quantities, with amounts, locations, and storage conditions.
- Universal waste
- A streamlined RCRA category covering batteries, lamps, mercury-containing devices, and pesticides, with reduced handling requirements but strict accumulation time limits.
- SPCC plan threshold
- Facilities with more than 1,320 gallons of aboveground or 42,000 gallons of buried oil storage capacity must prepare a plan if a discharge could reach navigable waters.
- Destruction removal efficiency
- The percentage of a pollutant removed by a control device, calculated as inlet mass minus outlet mass, divided by inlet mass, times 100.
- BOD versus COD
- BOD5 measures biodegradable organic demand over five days; COD measures nearly all oxidizable matter, so COD is greater than or equal to BOD.
- Gaussian plume model
- A dispersion equation predicting downwind concentration from emission rate, wind speed, dispersion coefficients, and effective stack height above ground.
- Henry's law
- The relationship stating that air concentration equals Henry's constant times water concentration, predicting how readily a dissolved compound volatilizes.
- Air stripping
- A treatment process that transfers volatile dissolved contaminants from water to air, effective for high-Henry's-law compounds such as trichloroethylene.
- Soil vapor extraction
- An in-situ remediation method that applies vacuum to the vadose zone to remove volatile organic compounds from soil pores.
- Fabric filter
- An air pollution control device using woven or felted media to capture fine particulate matter with high removal efficiency.
- Mass balance equation
- A conservation equation stating that accumulation equals inputs minus outputs plus generation minus consumption, used to quantify pollutant fate.
- Electrostatic precipitator
- A control device that charges particles and collects them on oppositely charged plates, achieving high efficiency for fine particulates in flue gas.
- Time-weighted average
- The sum of each concentration multiplied by its exposure duration, divided by the total period, used to compare exposure to an eight-hour limit.
- Permissible exposure limit
- An OSHA regulatory limit on airborne contaminant concentration, generally an eight-hour time-weighted average that employers must not exceed.
- Personal breathing-zone sample
- An air sample collected in the worker's breathing zone, required to demonstrate compliance with personal exposure limits rather than area levels.
- Safety Data Sheet
- A sixteen-section document in the GHS format describing hazards, handling, first aid, and disposal for a chemical product.
- Permit-required confined space
- A space with limited entry, not designed for occupancy, that contains a serious hazard such as engulfment, hazardous atmosphere, or entrapment.
- Hearing conservation program
- Required when noise exposure reaches the 85 dBA action level, including audiometric testing, hearing protection, training, and recordkeeping.
- Hierarchy of controls
- A ranked approach to hazard reduction: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment last.
- Respirator fit test
- A test verifying that a tight-fitting respirator seals to the wearer's face, required annually and before first use, alongside medical evaluation.
- Root cause analysis
- An investigation method that identifies underlying system failures behind an incident, rather than stopping at the immediate unsafe act.
- Paramount obligation
- The ethical duty to protect public health, safety, and welfare, which takes precedence over client, employer, or personal interests.
- Sign and seal rules
- Professionals may seal only work they prepared or directly supervised; sealing another's unreviewed work misrepresents responsibility.
- Conflict of interest
- A financial or personal interest that could bias professional judgment, which must be disclosed in writing and managed or declined.
- Confidentiality limits
- Client information is confidential, but disclosure required by law, court order, or regulation is permitted and does not violate the duty.
- Competence boundary
- Practicing outside one's technical competence without disclosure violates professional standards; competence must be maintained through continuing education.
- Documenting objections
- When directed to act unethically or illegally, the professional refuses, records the objection, and escalates internally before external reporting.
- Distinguishing data types
- Reports must separate measured values from modeled or estimated ones, and must not omit findings that would change a reader's conclusion.