National Pollutant Inventory
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) is a database of Australian pollution emissions managed by the Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments. A condensed version of the information collected is available to the public via the Department’s website [1].
Emissions
The NPI records and makes publicly available the emissions from industrial facilities and diffuse sources of 93 different chemical substances to air, land and water.
Objectives
The objectives of the NPI are to:
- Assist industry and government with environmental planning and management;
- Provide the community with up to date information about pollutant emissions from industrial facilities; and
- Promote waste minimisation, cleaner production, eco-efficiency and energy and resource efficiency.
Sources of data
Australian industrial facilities that use certain amounts of the 93 NPI substances must estimate and report their emissions directly to their state or territory environment agency annually. The state and territory environment agencies review all NPI reports for accuracy and forward the data to the Australian Government. The reports are then displayed on the NPI public website
Exemptions
The following industrial activities are exempt from the NPI's mandatory reporting requirements:[1]
- Mobile emission sources (for example, an aircraft in flight or a ship at sea) operating outside the boundaries of a fixed facility
- Petrol stations
- Dry cleaners which employ less than 20 people
- Scrap metal handling facilities that do not reprocess batteries or engage in metal smelting
- Agricultural production facilities, including the growing of trees, aquaculture, horticulture or livestock raising unless it involves intensive livestock production (for example, a piggery, poultry farm or a cattle feedlot) or processing agricultural produce.
During a review of the NPI undertaken in 2005, it was suggested that two industries have their exemptions lifted. They were aquaculture, and
Aquaculture in Spencer Gulf
This omission of the aquaculture industry from mandatory reporting is significant for
Substances reported
- 1,1,1,2-Tetrachloroethane
- 1,1,2-Trichloroethane
- 1,2-Dibromoethane
- 1,2-Dichloroethane
- 1,3-Butadiene(vinyl ethylene)
- 2-Ethoxyethanol acetate
- 2-Ethoxyethanol
- 2-Methoxyethanol acetate
- 2-Methoxyethanol
- 4,4'-Methylene-bis(2-chloroaniline)
- Acetaldehyde
- Acetic acid (ethanoic acid)
- Acetone
- Acetonitrile
- Acrolein
- Acrylamide
- Acrylic acid
- Acrylonitrile (2-propenenitrile)
- Ammonia (total)
- Aniline (benzenamine)
- Antimony & compounds
- Arsenic & compounds
- Benzene
- Benzene hexachloro-(HCB)
- Beryllium & compounds
- Biphenyl (1,1-biphenyl)
- Boron & compounds
- Cadmium & compounds
- Carbon disulfide
- Carbon monoxide
- Chlorine dioxide
- Chlorine & compounds
- Chloroethane (ethyl chloride)
- Chloroform (trichloromethane)
- Chlorophenols(di, tri, tetra)
- Chromium (tri)
- Chromium (hexa)
- Cobalt & compounds
- Copper & compounds
- Cumene (1-methylethylbenzene)
- Cyanide (inorganic) compounds
- Cyclohexane
- Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate(DEHP)
- Dibutyl phthalate
- Dichloromethane
- Ethanol
- Ethyl acetate
- Ethyl butyl ketone
- Ethylbenzene
- Ethylene glycol (1,2-ethanediol)
- Ethylene oxide
- Fluoride compounds
- Formaldehyde (methyl aldehyde)
- Glutaraldehyde
- Hydrochloric acid
- Hydrogen sulfide
- Lead & compounds
- Magnesium oxide
- Manganese & compounds
- Mercury & compounds
- Methanol
- Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate
- Methyl ethyl ketone
- Methyl isobutyl ketone
- Methyl methacrylate
- n-Hexane
- Nickel carbonyl
- Nickel subsulfide
- Nickel & compounds
- Nitric acid
- Organo-tin
- Oxides of nitrogen
- Particulate Matter <2.5 μm PM2.5
- Particulate Matter <10 μm PM10
- Phenol
- Phosphoric acid
- Phosphorus
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls
- furans
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Selenium & compounds
- Styrene (ethenylbenzene)
- Sulfur dioxide
- Sulfuric acid
- Tetrachloroethylene
- Toluene (methylbenzene)
- Toluene-2,4-diisocyanate
- Total Nitrogen
- Total Phosphorus
- Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- Trichloroethylene
- Vinyl Chloride Monomer
- Xylenes(individual or mixed isomers)
- Zinc & compounds
External links
- National Pollutant Inventory
- The National Pollutant Inventory in Google Earth
- Environment Canada National Pollutant Release Inventory
- US EPA Toxics Release Inventory
- Mexican Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes
- European Pollutant Emission Register
- North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR) page
References
- ^ NPI data | National Pollution Inventory Australian Government, Department of Environment, Australia. Accessed 2014-03-23
- ^ "Chapter 13 - Coastal Processes and Water Quality - Spencer Gulf Port Link Bulk Commodies Export Facility Environmental Impact Statement" Archived 2014-01-27 at the Wayback Machine Spencer Gulf Port Link, South Australia (2013). Accessed 2014-03-23.
- ISBN 0 7590 1081 1