Free CIER Practice Questions

Question 1

Before Class I asbestos removal begins, a supervisor checks a 30 ft × 20 ft × 10 ft negative-pressure enclosure. The HEPA exhaust unit is rated at 1,000 cubic feet per minute, but its measured installed exhaust flow is 600 cubic feet per minute. A calibrated manometer shows the enclosure pressure is 0.012 inch water gauge below the adjacent clean area. Which assessment correctly applies OSHA's enclosure requirements?

Accepted Answer

The enclosure provides 6 air changes per hour; the pressure differential must be corrected before removal.

Answer

The enclosure provides 10 air changes per hour; removal may begin because its pressure is negative.

Answer

The enclosure provides 6 air changes per hour; removal may begin because the minimum airflow is met.

Answer

The enclosure provides 10 air changes per hour; the pressure differential must be corrected before removal.

Question 2

Mold returns each winter behind a wardrobe against a ground-floor exterior wall. The room is 70°F at 45% relative humidity, with a measured dew point of approximately 48°F. The wall surface behind the wardrobe is 43°F; exposed wall surfaces are 61°F. Growth is confined to the cold area behind the furniture and does not track rainfall. Which moisture mechanism is directly supported by these findings?

Accepted Answer

Room-air moisture is condensing on the locally cooled wall surface.

Answer

Ground moisture is rising through the masonry by capillary action.

Answer

Rainwater is entering intermittently through joints in the exterior cladding.

Answer

A concealed plumbing leak is wetting the wall from the cavity outward.

Question 3

A paid contractor will replace a lead-painted window in a 1965 rental apartment covered by the federal Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule. The entire job will disturb 4 square feet of painted surface in one room. The contractor calls it exempt minor repair because the area is below 6 square feet. How should the work be classified?

Accepted Answer

Covered renovation, because window replacement is excluded from the minor-repair exception.

Answer

Exempt minor repair, provided no other painted surfaces in the room are disturbed within 30 days.

Answer

Exempt minor repair, provided wet methods keep the removed window components substantially intact.

Answer

Lead abatement, because replacing any component containing lead paint makes the project an abatement.

Question 4

After visible elemental-mercury droplets have been recovered from a laboratory floor, qualified remediators continue vapor monitoring. Readings fall during outdoor exhaust ventilation but rise again after the room is closed. Temperature and instrument response remain stable, and the highest readings repeatedly occur at one floor joint. What should the team address before considering a surface sealant?

Accepted Answer

The floor joint; investigate the joint and adjoining materials for retained mercury, then recover the residual source.

Answer

The ventilation duration; repeat ventilation until a sample taken with the exhaust running meets the release criterion.

Answer

The whole floor assembly; remove every floor finish before attempting to localize the remaining source.

Answer

The air-cleaner capacity; add HEPA-only recirculation units to capture the residual mercury vapor.

Question 5

A characterized hazardous-waste work area has 18.6% oxygen. The assessment identifies a liquid-splash hazard but no hazard requiring vapor-tight protection of the skin. Entry arrangements are being developed separately. Which listed HAZWOPER ensemble provides the indicated protection without adding unnecessary vapor-tight skin protection?

Accepted Answer

Level B: positive-pressure SCBA with chemically compatible splash-protective clothing.

Answer

Level A: positive-pressure SCBA with a totally encapsulating, vapor-tight chemical-protective suit.

Answer

Level C: a full-face air-purifying respirator with appropriate cartridges and chemical-splash clothing.

Answer

Level D: work coveralls, chemical-resistant gloves and boots, with an escape respirator available.

Question 6

At a September 2026 lead-abatement project in target housing in an EPA-administered jurisdiction, the work passes visual inspection. Valid single-surface clearance samples show floor dust at 3 µg/ft², an interior window sill at 52 µg/ft², and a window trough at 82 µg/ft². No stricter local or contractual limits apply, and all other required samples meet the applicable limits. Which clearance finding is correct?

Accepted Answer

The interior sill fails; the reported floor and trough results meet their respective clearance limits.

Answer

All three sampled surfaces fail because any reportable dust lead exceeds the post-abatement clearance limits.

Answer

All three sampled surfaces pass because their results are below 10, 100, and 400 µg/ft², respectively.

Answer

The floor and interior sill fail, but the trough passes because reportable lead is permitted in troughs.

Question 7

An asbestos worker's representative breathing-zone samples from one shift show an 8-hour time-weighted average of 0.09 fiber/cm³ and a 30-minute task average of 1.3 fibers/cm³. The foreman highlights the full-shift result as evidence that neither airborne concentration limit was exceeded. How should the results be interpreted?

Accepted Answer

The 30-minute excursion limit was exceeded, although the 8-hour time-weighted-average limit was not.

Answer

Both concentration limits were exceeded because the task result was higher than 0.1 fiber/cm³.

Answer

Neither concentration limit was exceeded because the full-shift average remained below 0.1 fiber/cm³.

Answer

Neither concentration limit can be evaluated without collecting an additional sample inside the worker's respirator.

Question 8

A representative sample of waste from an industrial remediation project yields 6.4 mg/L of lead in the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure extract. The waste is subject to federal RCRA hazardous-waste determination, and no exclusion applies. What does this result establish?

Accepted Answer

The extract exceeds the 5 mg/L lead threshold, establishing the toxicity characteristic and waste code D008.

Answer

The waste is a listed hazardous waste solely because a laboratory has confirmed that it contains lead.

Answer

A lead classification cannot be assigned until total lead in the waste is shown to exceed 0.5% by weight.

Answer

The result is below the 50 mg/L TCLP threshold for lead, so the D008 toxicity characteristic does not apply.

Question 9

An apartment houses a child with physician-documented cockroach sensitization. Pest control has eliminated observed live activity, but an inspection finds old droppings and insect fragments beneath cabinets. Leaks have been repaired and food-storage practices improved. Which addition to the work order addresses the remaining allergen source?

Accepted Answer

Remove the residual pest material through controlled cleaning while maintaining pest-prevention measures.

Answer

Increase residual pesticide applications beneath the cabinets before undertaking any removal of settled material.

Answer

Apply disinfectant to the deposits and leave them undisturbed once the material has dried.

Answer

Install portable air cleaners and retain the deposits unless live cockroaches return to the monitoring traps.

Question 10

The authority-approved cleanup plan for a former methamphetamine laboratory requires each designated surface to contain no more than 0.5 µg/100 cm². A required wipe sample is reported as "not detected, <1.0 µg/100 cm²." The laboratory confirms that 1.0 µg/100 cm² is its reporting limit for that sample. What can be concluded about this surface?

Accepted Answer

Compliance is not established; analysis sensitive enough to evaluate the acceptance limit is needed.

Answer

The surface passes because a nondetect result is equivalent to a measured concentration of zero.

Answer

The surface fails because the laboratory has measured a concentration of 1.0 µg/100 cm².

Answer

The surface passes if the mean of the other required surface results is below 0.5 µg/100 cm².

Free CIER Practice Questions

Domain 1: Understand and execute successful remediation of asbestos in the indoor environment

Question 1

Question 2

Domain 2: Understand and execute successful remediation of lead in the indoor environment

Question 3

Question 4

Domain 3: Understand and execute successful remediation of hazardous materials in the indoor environment

Question 5

Question 6

Domain 4: Understand and execute successful remediation of microbial contaminants and allergens in the indoor environment

Question 7

Question 8

Domain 5: Understand and execute successful remediation of chemicals in the indoor environment

Question 9

Question 10

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