Transcript Slide 1

Update on Canada’s
National Pollutant Release
Inventory (NPRI)
CEC – Public Meeting of the NAPRTR
Project
November 11, 2014
Karen Mailhiot
Environment Canada
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, publiclyaccessible 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 facilityreported 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, nongovernmental 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).
Total Releases, Disposals and Transfers for
Recycling (Off-site) Reported to the NPRI for 2012
– 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 20112012.
– These decreases were due to
technology improvements,
facility closures, and production
decreases for certain facilities.
– Also reported increases in
disposal and recycling
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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
Current NPRI efforts
are focussed on
improving “data
quality”, in a broad
sense, encompassing
six dimensions.
Relevance
Accuracy &
Reliability
Timeliness
Data
Quality
Completeness
Accessibility
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
Accuracy/reliability
Completeness
Understandability
Accessibility
Timeliness
Stakeholder & data user consultation; Review of the NPRI Substances List
Annual QA/QC process (sectoral engagement); Uncertainty analyses; Tools
Sector and Substance Coverage Analysis; Compliance Promotion
Guide for using and interpreting NPRI data; FAQs; Contextual information
NPRI data available in a variety of formats (database structure improvement)
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 NPRI
Environment Canada
10th Floor, Fontaine Building
200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd.
Gatineau, Québec
K1A 0H3
Tel: 1-877-877-8375
E-mail: [email protected]
NPRI Website:
www.ec.gc.ca/inrp-npri
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Thank You / Merci / Gracias
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