Update on Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI)

CEC – Public Meeting of the NAPRTR Project

November 11, 2014

Karen Mailhiot

Environment Canada

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Outline

1. Background on the NPRI – What it is, why it exists, pollution data in context, how the data is shared

2. NPRI data for the automotive sector – Snapshot of reporting coverage for 2012

3. Recent and current activities of the NPRI - Recent changes, potential future changes and other current work

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About the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI)

• Established in 1993, the NPRI is Canada’s legislated, publicly-accessible inventory of pollutant releases (to air, water and land), disposals and off-site recycling. It is Canada’s Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR).

• NPRI includes information collected from approximately 7,500 facilities on over 300 substances, based on mandatory annual reporting under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

• NPRI provides the main input to Canada's Air Pollutant Emission Inventory (APEI), which includes NPRI facility-reported data along with emission estimates for other sources such as motor vehicles, residential heating, and agriculture. APEI covers key air pollutants contributing to smog, acid rain or poor air quality, selected heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants.

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Why the NPRI Exists

• The NPRI is a major starting point for pollution information in Canada. It exists to:

– Support priority setting and monitoring of environmental performance measures

– Contribute to the compilation of pollution patterns and trends

– Provide environmental information in the public interest

– Fulfill international reporting obligations

• NPRI data are used by governments, academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, financial institutions and media

• Publication of the NPRI is mandated under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999)

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Canada’s Pollution Data in Context

• Data collected and generated through the NPRI is increasingly being used to support other EC initiatives, including:

– The Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) to assess and manage the risks from chemicals

– Risk management activities for sectors (e.g. Metal Mining Effluent Regulations, Pollution Prevention Planning notices)

• NPRI Data is complemented by other sources of information, for example:

– Greenhouse Gas emissions data from the GHG Emissions Reporting Program and the National GHG Inventory

– Monitoring Data (air and water quality monitoring, etc)

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Sharing of NPRI data

• NPRI query site (Quick, easy to find information on a particular facility)

• Microsoft Excel flat file (Most common fields in a simplified spreadsheet format )

• NPRI database – available in Microsoft Access format (Useful for custom analysis for “technical” users (industry-level analysis, time trends, etc.) )

• NPRI Map Layers for use in Google Earth (Allow users to “explore” NPRI data in an intuitive and visual way)

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2012 NPRI Facility-Reported Data

• 2012 reviewed data is currently available (published February 2014).

– 7,708 facilities submitted substance reports in 2012

– Total reported releases of pollutants (i.e. directly to air, water and land) fell by 17% (or 674,180 tonnes) from 2008 to 2012, and 1% between 2011-2012.

– These decreases were due to technology improvements, facility closures, and production decreases for certain facilities.

– Also reported increases in disposal and recycling

Total Releases, Disposals and Transfers for Recycling (Off-site) Reported to the NPRI for 2012

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2012 NPRI Data for the Automotive Sector and Supply Chain

• Data from transportation manufacturing facilities that meet the reporting requirements are included in the NPRI

– This includes some automobile and automobile parts manufacturing facilities

• In 2012, 155 transportation equipment manufacturing facilities related to the Automotive Sector submitted reports to the NPRI.

– These facilities reported releases of 65 individual NPRI substances, including CACs, PAHs, and heavy metals such as lead, zinc, and chromium.

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The NPRI has expanded since its inception…

• Since the first year of the NPRI, EC has:

– Added over 150 substances, including toxic substances and air pollutants

– Reduced thresholds or established different reporting criteria for certain substances and activities

– Removed exemptions for certain sectors

Documentation on the changes over time is available on the NPRI website

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Recent changes to the NPRI reporting requirements• Addition of Thallium and 2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethanol

• Deletion of 5 substances from the NPRI substance list.– NPRI reporting requirements no longer apply

• Eight substances or substance groups are now required to be reported at a reduced threshold. The reporting threshold for quinoline was also reduced.

• For total reduced sulphur, only releases to air are now required to be reported.  

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Potential Future Changes to the NPRI Requirements

• The following changes are currently being considered for 2016-2017 or for subsequent reporting years:

– Addition of Naphthenic Acids (external proposal)

– Addition of 10 substances recently added to the U.S. TRI (external proposal)

– Review of the NPRI substance list (possible additions, threshold changes and deletions)

– Review of reporting from oil & gas extraction (broader second phase)

– Addition of radionuclides (external proposal)

– Changes to reporting of air pollutants (Part 4 substances)

• Consultation will take place before EC makes decisions on these changes

• The 2016-2017 Canada Gazette Notice is planned to be published in December 2015 or early 2016.

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Other Key Areas of Upcoming Work

Data Quality

Relevance

Accuracy & Reliability

CompletenessAccessibility

Timeliness

Current NPRI efforts are focussed on improving “data quality”, in a broad sense, encompassing six dimensions.

Understandability

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The NPRI Data Quality Management Framework

• The primary objective of the NPRI Data Quality Management Framework is to ensure that NPRI data achieves and maintains a high level of quality and meets the needs of data users

• Ongoing activities are related to each of the following dimensions of data quality:

– Relevance Stakeholder & data user consultation; Review of the NPRI Substances List– Accuracy/reliability Annual QA/QC process (sectoral engagement); Uncertainty analyses; Tools– Completeness Sector and Substance Coverage Analysis; Compliance Promotion – Understandability Guide for using and interpreting NPRI data; FAQs; Contextual information– Accessibility NPRI data available in a variety of formats (database structure

improvement)– Timeliness Annual publication of NPRI data (preliminary and reviewed)

• As the NPRI program continues to evolve, these activities are adjusted to address new challenges and opportunities for continuous improvement

• Available at: http://www.ec.gc.ca/inrp-npri/default.asp?lang=En&n=23EAF55A-1

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Improvements to the quality of NPRI data

• Renewing the NPRI consultation process including considerations for alternate thresholds

• Addressing input from NPRI data users

• Recent improvements, many of which were driven by input from stakeholders:

– All data for all substances is now available through the query site

– Single-year datasets for the most recent years are now available in user-friendly flat file format (MS Excel)

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Questions / Comments / Suggestions?

Contact the NPRIEnvironment Canada10th Floor, Fontaine Building200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd.Gatineau, QuébecK1A 0H3Tel: 1-877-877-8375E-mail: inrp-npri@ec.gc.ca

NPRI Website: www.ec.gc.ca/inrp-npri

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Thank You / Merci / Gracias