Review 1

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These review questions are taken from material covered in Session 1.  Upon completion of  Session 1, you should be able to answer all of these questions.  If you are taking this workshop for University credit,  test questions for Session 1 will be adapted from these review questions.

  1. What was the purpose of the Clean Water Act (CWA)?
  2. What are five different environments that comprise our water resources?
  3. Approximately how many miles of rivers and streams are there in the USA?
  4. What percentage of our nation's rivers and streams flow intermittently?
  5. How many acres of lakes and reservoirs exist in the USA?
  6. Which tend to be more severely impacted by pollution -- rivers or lakes? Why?
  7. What are estuaries? Why are estuaries important?
  8. What are aquifers?  What percentage of our nation's water use comes from aquifers?
  9. Give 4 different reasons why wetlands are important.
  10. How many acres of wetlands are left in the USA today?
  11. Why are our wetlands disappearing?
  12. What is the stated objective of the CWA?
  13. In what year was the Water Pollution Control Act passed?
  14. What was the reason the Water Pollution Control Act was ineffective?
  15. When was the Federal Water Pollution Control Act passed?  What was its goal?
  16. Name 3 different things that were included in the Fed. Water Pollution Control Act.
  17. Which act established the NPDES permit program?
  18. In what year were amendments made that gave the CWA its present title?
  19. What were some significant amendments made to the CWA in 1987?
  20. Have all the goal of the CWA been met?
  21. Has the CWA resulted in improvements in the quality of the nation's waters?
  22. What does the term "NPDES" stand for?
  23. What are five examples of activities that require an NPDES permit?
  24. What branch of the EPA has responsibility for the issue and enforcement of NPDES permits?
  25. What is a DMR?  What is a WET test?
  26. What are three main types of organisms used in WET tests?
  27. In what way is a WET test different from an actual chemical analysis of toxicants in an effluent?
  28. What is meant by the term "definitive" test?
  29. What is the difference between an "acute" test and a "chronic" test?
  30. What type of test yields information on sub-lethal toxicity?
  31. If a test indicates that an effluent has a "48-hour LC50" of 65%, what does that mean?
  32. The NOEC is an important end-point for many WET tests. What does "NOEC" stand for?
  33.   If an effluent is tested and the results indicate a NOEC of 25%, and a LOEC of 50%, what does that mean?
  34.   What do the letters "IC" stand for? What is the difference between a LC50 and a IC50?

Up ] CWA Purpose ] CWA History ] NPDES ] W.E.T. Testing ] WET Endpoints ] [ Review 1 ]
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