General Information on the NPI
- How has it been developed?
- The NPI in the Northern Territory
- Which substances will be reported?
- Which industries will need to report?
- What’s in it for my industry?
- What help is there for industry?
- What are aggregated emissions?
- Want more information?
What is the NPI?
The NPI is an internet database designed to provide the community, industry and government with information on the types and amounts of certain substances being emitted to the air, land and water. Since 1998, larger Australian facilities are required to estimate and report annually their emissions to the NPI. Estimation of emissions from smaller industry, households and everyday activities have been made by State and Territory environment authorities and listed on the database.
The main objectives of the NPI are to:
- provide information to industry and government to assist in environmental planning and
management; - satisfy community demand for accessible information on emissions to the environment; and
- promote waste minimisation, cleaner production, and energy and resource savings.
How has it been developed?
In 1996, the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) - a forum of Commonwealth, State and Territory Environment Ministers - agreed to prepare a draft National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) for the NPI. The Measure was released for public comment in June 1997, and the final measure was endorsed in February 1998. The NPI NEPM was varied to include a wider range of substances effective from 1 July 2001.
Australian, state and territory Ministers agreed to review the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) in December 2004. The aim of the review was to determine the NPI's effectiveness and whether it is delivering benefits to the community, industry and governments. Stakeholder consultation was carried out during March 2005 with a range of stakeholders . The scope of the variation will cover:
- the inclusion of data on the transfer of substances from one location to another;
- the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions
- changes to reporting time frames;
- inclusion of additional industries such as aquaculture and crematoria (others may be considered);
- technical adjustments to the substance list;
- threshold changes for mercury, PM10 and, if included on the NPI, PM2.5; and
- other matters identified in the NPI Review Report.
The Commonwealth, States and Territories are cooperatively implementing the NPI. They have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding, which provides details of how this will occur. Commonwealth is responsible for:
- maintaining the NPI database
- producing guides and handbooks to help industries report
- promoting the NPI and providing education
- provides funds to State/Territories
And the States/Territories are responsible for:
- collecting data from industries
- helping reporters
- estimating aggregated emissions
- promoting the NPI and providing education
The NPI in the Northern Territory
The Environment Protection Agency of the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts is implementing the NPI in the Territory. Duties include four important tasks:
- helping industries that may need to report
- estimating aggregated emission data
- promoting the use of the NPI
- helping those who are interested in accessing the NPI to get the most from it.
There is one exception to this. The Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines (DPIFM) collects NPI reporting data from the mining industry. DPIFM is already the regulator of the Territory mining industry.
Which substances are reported?
The NPI focuses on reporting the emission of substances that pose health and environmental risk. Industries are asked to report on 90 substances. These include:
- heavy metals and their compounds
- volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- particulate matter less then 10 micron in size (PM10)
- Oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
- Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
- Total phosphorus (P) emitted to water
- Total nitrogen (N) emitted to water.
Which industries need to report?
On 15 January 2004 legislation was passed in the Northern Territory that requires some industries to report their emissions. Not all industries need to report, and those that do, don’t necessarily need to report on all substances.
An industry is required to report if it:
- "uses" ten tonnes or more of certain substances, in which case it only needs to report on those substances that exceed this threshold
- burns 400 tonnes per year or more of fuel/waste, or 1 t/hr. It then needs to report on category 2a emissions from combustion, namely carbon monoxide, flouride compounds, hydrochloric acid, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter of size 10µm or less (PM10), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, sulphur dioxide and total volatile organic compounds
- burns 2000 tonnes per year or more of fuel/waste, or consumes 60,000 megawatt-hours or more of energy in a year (or has a maximum potential power consumption of 20 megawatts or more). It then needs to report on category 2b substances which includes category 2a substances and various heavy metals
- emits to water 3 tonnes per year of phosphorus. It then needs to report on each, or both, of these substances - depending on which thresholds are exceeded.
Where an industry needs to report on its emissions of a substance, it needs to report all emissions to air, land and water. It does not need to report "transfers" - i.e., discharges to sewer, landfill, tailings dam or other approved containment. The emission from these, e.g. leachate from a landfill, may need to be reported.
There are a number of industries that do not need to report. These are:
- mobile emission sources outside the boundaries of a fixed facility
- fuel retailers
- dry cleaners employing less than 20 people
- scrap metal handlers- except those that reprocess batteries or smelt scrap
- agriculture- except intensive live-stock production
Each State and Territory environment agency have estimated emissions from these in selected areas.
What help is there for industry?
Over 90 different types of industry have been identified as potential reporters for the NPI. To help these, the Commonwealth has produced a series of industry handbooks. Each handbook consists of:
- the NPI Guide, which provides a step-by-step means of helping an industry determine if it needs to report
- an emission estimation manual for that industry, which offers technical advice on the ways in which emissions of NPI substances can best be estimated for the industry.
The NPI Officer in the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts can offer assistance to Northern Territory businesses.
What’s in it for my industry?
Public reporting on emissions is not only a responsible thing to do, it can also save you money and help the environment at the same time.
The United States have had a Toxics Release Inventory since 1987. A 1992 study by research group INFORM of 29 chemical manufacturers who reported to US TRI found:
- $US21m saved at 14 plants by 62 source reduction programs
- most savings between $16,000 to $350,000 per year
- most had 18 month return on investment
An earlier review in 1989 by the General Accounting Office identified some of the ways in which businesses were saving by being part of the reporting scheme. The review found that over half of the reports have made changes through:
- improved inventory control
- use of alternative chemicals
- improved chemical use controls
- improved equipment efficiency
- changed manufacturing processes
- reduced point-source emissions
- reduced fugitive emissions
Remember, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.
What are aggregated emissions?
The NPI is not only about industry emissions. Day-to-day activities, like driving cars are also major sources of emissions. The NPI includes these under the banner of "aggregated" emissions. Aggregated emissions are simply the emission from sources other than reporting industries. These include:
- emissions from households, including lawn mowers and wood fires
- emissions from mobile sources, such as motor vehicles and shipping
- diffuse water pollution, such as nutrients from urban areas
- emissions from smaller industries and industries not required to report to the NPI either because they do not trip any reporting thresholds, or because they are exempt.
They are very important to the NPI, as they allow the community to gain a more complete picture of emissions. They also allow industry emissions to be compared with other emission sources.
The Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts is responsible for estimating the aggregated emissions to the following:
- Darwin Airshed
- Alice Springs Airshed
- Darwin Harbour catchment
Remember, providing the Department with information on emissions will help with the accuracy of aggregated emissions.
Want more information?
- Contact NPI Officer
(npi.officer@nt.gov.au)
(ph: 08 8924 4553) - Contact the Australian Government’s NPI team (npi@deh.gov.au)
(ph: 1800 657 945)
