NCEES-FE-Environmental Exam Information and Outline
Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) ENVIRONMENTAL
NCEES-FE-Environmental Exam Syllabus & Study Guide
Before you start practicing with our exam simulator, it is essential to understand the official NCEES-FE-Environmental exam objectives. This course outline serves as your roadmap, breaking down exactly which technical domains and skills will be tested. By reviewing the syllabus, you can identify your strengths and focus your study time on the areas where you need the most improvement.
The information below reflects the latest 2026 course contents as defined by NCEES. We provide this detailed breakdown to help you align your preparation with the actual exam format, ensuring there are no surprises on test day. Use this outline as a checklist to track your progress as you move through our practice question banks.
Below are complete topics detail with latest syllabus and course outline, that will help you good knowledge about exam objectives and topics that you have to prepare. These contents are covered in questions and answers pool of exam.
NCEES-FE ENVOIRMENTAL
- 1. Mathematics
- Analytic geometry and trigonometry
- Algebraic equations and roots
- Calculus (e.g., differential, integral, differential equations)
- Numerical methods (e.g., numerical integration, approximations, precision limits, error propagation)
- 2. Probability and Statistics
- Measures of central tendencies and dispersions (e.g., mean, mode, standard deviation)
- Probability distributions (e.g., discrete, continuous, normal, binomial)
- Estimation for a single mean (e.g., point, confidence intervals)
- Regression (linear, multiple), curve fitting, and goodness of fit (e.g., correlation coefficient, least squares)
- Hypothesis testing (e.g., t-test, outlier testing, analysis of the variance)
- 3. Ethics and Professional Practice
- Codes of ethics (e.g., professional and technical societies, ethical and legal considerations)
- Public health, safety, and welfare (e.g., public protection issues, licensing boards, professional liability)
- Compliance with codes, standards, and regulations (e.g., CWA, CAA, RCRA, CERCLA, SDWA, NEPA, OSHA)
- Engineer’s role in society (e.g., sustainability, resiliency, long-term viability)
- 4. Engineering Economics
- Time value of money (e.g., equivalence, present worth, equivalent annual worth, future worth, rate of return, annuities)
- Cost types and breakdowns (e.g., fixed, variable, direct and indirect labor, incremental, average, sunk, O&M)
- Economic analyses (e.g., benefit-cost, break-even, minimum cost, overhead, life cycle)
- Project selection (e.g., comparison of projects with unequal lives, lease/buy/make, depreciation, discounted cash flow)
- 5. Fundamental Principles
- Population projections and demand calculations (e.g., water, wastewater, solid waste, energy)
- Reactors
- Materials science (e.g., properties, corrosion, compatibility, stress strain)
- 6. Environmental Chemistry
- Stoichiometry and chemical reactions (e.g., equilibrium, acid-base, oxidation-reduction, precipitation, pC-pH)
- Kinetics (e.g., chemical conversion, growth and decay)
- Organic chemistry (e.g., nomenclature, functional group reactions)
- Multimedia equilibrium partitioning (e.g., Henry’s law, octanol partitioning coefficient)
- 7. Health Hazards and Risk Assessment
- Dose-response toxicity (e.g., carcinogen, noncarcinogen)
- Exposure routes and pathways
- Occupational health (e.g., PPE, noise pollution, safety screening)
- 8. Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics
- Fluid statics (e.g., pressure, force analysis)
- Closed conduits (e.g., Darcy-Weisbach, Hazen-Williams, Moody)
- Open channel (e.g., Manning, supercritical/subcritical, culverts, hydraulic elements)
- Pumps (e.g., power, operating point, parallel, series)
- Flow measurement (e.g., weirs, orifices, flumes)
- Blowers (e.g., power, inlet/outlet pressure, efficiency, operating point, parallel, series)
- Fluid dynamics (e.g., Bernoulli, laminar flow, turbulent flow, continuity equation)
- Steady and unsteady flow
- 9. Thermodynamics
- Thermodynamic laws (e.g., first law, second law)
- Energy, heat, and work (e.g., efficiencies, coefficient of performance, energy cycles, energy conversion, conduction, convection, radiation)
- Behavior of ideal gases
- 10. Surface Water Resources and Hydrology
- Runoff calculations (e.g., land use, land cover, time of concentration, duration, intensity, frequency, runoff control, runoff management)
- Water storage sizing (e.g., reservoir, detention and retention basins)
- Routing (e.g., channel, reservoir)
- Water quality and modeling (e.g., erosion, channel stability, stormwater quality management, wetlands, Streeter-Phelps, eutrophication)
- Water budget (e.g., evapotranspiration, precipitation, infiltration, soil moisture, storage)
- 11. Groundwater, Soils, and Sediments
- Basic hydrogeology (e.g., aquifer properties, soil characteristics, subsurface)
- Groundwater flow (e.g., Darcy’s law, specific capacity, velocity, gradient, transport mechanisms)
- Drawdown (e.g., Dupuit, Jacob, Theis, Thiem)
- Remediation of soil, sediment, and/or groundwater (e.g., recovery, ex-situ/in-situ treatment)
- 12. Water and Wastewater
- Water and wastewater characteristics (e.g., physical, chemical, biological, nutrients)
- Mass balance and loading rates (e.g., removal efficiencies)
- Physical processes (e.g., sedimentation/clarification, filtration, adsorption, membrane, flocculation, headworks, flow equalization, air stripping, activated carbon)
- Chemical processes (e.g., disinfection, ion exchange, softening, coagulation, precipitation)
- Biological processes (e.g., activated sludge, fixed film, lagoons, phytoremediation, aerobic, anaerobic, anoxic)
- Sludge treatment and handling (e.g., land application, digestion, sludge dewatering, composting)
- Water conservation and reuse
- 13. Air Quality and Control
- Ambient and indoor air quality (e.g., criteria, toxic and hazardous air pollutants)
- Mass and energy balances (e.g., STP basis, loading rates, heating values)
- Emissions (e.g., factors, rates)
- Atmospheric modeling and meteorology (e.g., stability classes, dispersion modeling, lapse rates)
- Gas treatment technologies (e.g., biofiltration, scrubbers, adsorbers, incineration, catalytic reducers)
- Particle treatment technologies (e.g., baghouses, cyclones, electrostatic precipitators)
- Indoor air quality modeling and controls (e.g., air exchanges, steady- and nonsteady-state reactor model)
- 14. Solid and Hazardous Waste
- Mass and energy balances
- Solid waste management (e.g., collection, transportation, storage, composting, recycling, waste to energy)
- Solid waste disposal (e.g., landfills, leachate and gas collection)
- Hazardous waste compatibility
- Site characterization (e.g., sampling, monitoring, remedial investigation)
- Hazardous and radioactive waste treatment and disposal (e.g., physical, chemical, thermal, biological)
- 15. Energy and Environment
- Energy sources concepts (e.g., conventional and alternative)
- Environmental impact of energy sources and production (e.g., greenhouse gas production, carbon footprint, thermal, water needs)