NPI Industry reporting
This page provides NPI reporters with help on the technical aspects related to estimating emissions for the NPI.
More information about NPI reporting:
How is the NPI reporting year defined for reporters not using the standard NPI reporting year?
The standard NPI reporting year is 1 July to 30 June. In some cases a State or Territory environment agency may allow a facility to report outside the standard (1 July to 30 June) NPI reporting year. Regardless of reporting period dates, all facilities must submit their NPI report to their State or Territory environment agency within three months of the end of their reporting period. Standard reporting year (1 July to 30 June) reporters must report before the end of September and calendar year reporters before the end of March.
Facility reports will be presented on the Internet for the NPI reporting year in which their reporting period ends.
From when does the full list of 90 NPI substances need to be reported?
The National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) for the NPI requires facilities to begin reporting against the full list of 90 NPI substances from 1 July 2001. This means that if a facility's reporting period ends after 1 July 2001, the full NPI list of 90 substances must be considered when reporting to their State or Territory NPI Unit.
Is there an EET manual for my industry?
To determine if your industry sector has a manual, find out more about estimating emissions.
In such circumstances, the data will be presented for the part year only. The state or territory environment agency will not extrapolate the facility data for the full year reporting period.
What is the NPI National Reporting Tool (NRT)?
An electronic reporting tool streamlines and simplifies NPI facility reporting for all participating stakeholders. The NRT is used in all jurisdictions except NSW. Refer to the NRT page for more information. The paper reporting form can be printed from the web.
Yes, once a manual is published covering an ANZSIC code, then all industry groups falling under that code are required to report to the NPI.
Yes.
No. A facility must report emission estimates for all substances that trip the relevant thresholds.
No. Any release to the environment must be reported as it enters the environment. If on-site emissions are not contained in purpose built, approved receiving facilities, they are emissions to the environment and must be reported even if they are not detectable at the site boundary.
What are reporting thresholds?
There are five categories of thresholds. Two thresholds relate to the use of substances, one to nutrient emissions to water, and two to fuel combustion or energy use. More details are in the NPI Guide and the NEPM for the NPI.
How can I tell if I need to report on the Category 1a threshold?
Category 1a threshold relates only to Total Volatile Organic Compounds (Total VOCs) when a facility uses 25 tonnes or more of VOCs. For a bulk storage facility, uses 25 tonnes or more of VOCs and has a 25 kilotonne or greater design storage capacity for material containing VOCs.
To make a Category 1a determination, a facility must calculate and sum the tonnage of all VOCs used on site, both as individual substances and as constituents of other substances (such as fuel). While a facility may not have used enough of any single NPI substance that is a VOC to trip individual thresholds, they may have used enough VOCs in total to trip the Category 1a threshold for Total VOCs.
For example, a facility uses 400 tonnes of heating oil that consists of 12 weight percent VOCs and 88 weight percent of other substances; i.e. the facility has used 48 tonnes of VOCs. This clearly trips the category 1a threshold and, therefore, Total VOCs must be reported.
Note: a facility may also need to report on the individual NPI substances that are VOCs if their usage trips other reporting thresholds (See also Calculating Thresholds, Definition of VOCs and Double Counting.)
In such circumstances, the occupier should take the mid-point of the range advised on the MSDS as the relevant figure for threshold calculations.
If your facility has exceeded a NPI substance threshold and you can't apply an emission factor or other emission estimation technique, your State or Territory environment agency should be consulted.
How many significant figures are reported to the NPI?
Data is displayed on the NPI database to two significant figures. This means that facilities are required to report emissions to air, land and water to a precision of two significant figures. If the third significant figure is a 5, the second figure is rounded to the closest even number (for example 12.5 is rounded to 12 and 13.5 is rounded to 14) as outlined in Australian Standard 2706-1984.
How should zero emissions of an NPI substance be reported?
If the NPI substance emission is required to be reported because a threshold is exceeded and emission is estimated to be zero, then you should report the figure 'zero' to the NPI.
How should emissions based on below detection limit in analytical tests be reported?
An indication that a listed substance is below detection limit is not the same as stating that the substance is not present. If the best available information indicates no presence of a substance in the waste-stream, a facility may report zero. The facility should document that it considered available data in making this determination.
If, based on best available information, there is reason to believe that the listed substance is likely to be present in the waste-stream, a concentration equivalent to half of the detection limit should be used in the estimated emission calculation.
In all cases the less than detection limit measurement should be based on the most accurate or appropriate methodology readily available for analysis of the listed substance. Acceptable use of zero in these situations is always at the discretion of the relevant State or Territory environment agency.
No. The NPI requires the reporting of estimated emissions - that is, emissions from a facility that are calculated using an accepted EET. Facilities should always report a specific emission amount arrived at through the use of an EET.
If the electronic tool is based on the EET in an NPI EET Manual and is transparent in its estimation method, it will be classified as an approved EET If the estimation method is not transparent, then the tool needs to be submitted to the relevant State or Territory environment agency for approval.
Are explosives used in mines and quarries classed as fuel?
Explosives are classed as fuel for the purposes of NPI reporting threshold calculations. The total mass of the explosive is to be included in the calculation (e.g. total mass of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil mixture (ANFO), not just the fuel oil component).
Category 1 substances contained in mined ore or waste (including overburden) should be included in NPI reporting threshold calculations. For example, Category 1 substances in material moved to a waste dump are to be taken into account when determining a facility's use of a NPI substance. See the NPI Guide for more information.
The placing of a substance on the waste dump is not regarded as an emission of the substance to the environment. Any loss of an NPI substance from the waste dump is regarded as an emission (e.g. escaping in leachate or as wind-blown particulate matter) and if the NPI substance reporting threshold is tripped, it must be reported.
Tailings are sludge, mineral residue and wastewater (apart from final effluent) resulting from ore extraction or processing. In some cases this may be the slag from pyrometallurgical processes. Tailings vary widely in properties and constituents depending on the mineral being processed and the extraction process used. This means that the environmental impact and human health effects of tailings also vary widely.
In some industries the term tailings is being replaced by other terms to more accurately reflect the nature of the material. Any future change in terminology the NPI uses will reflect the terminology that industry and other sectors of the community use.
Are spills from tailings dams reportable emissions?
Yes. Any spills or leakages that lead to an emission to the environment to air, land or water must be reported if a reporting threshold is tripped.
How does industry use 'buffer zones' in relation to emissions?
Many industries use buffer zones to decrease their impact on neighbouring communities.
Buffer zones do not decrease the emissions of a substance, but they do allow additional substance dispersion prior to crossing the facility boundary. In some cases, particulate material settling may occur within the buffer zone. A buffer zone can also provide a facility with the opportunity to monitor, or take action to control emissions before release beyond the facility boundary.
If combustion processes and/or sources trip a PM10 threshold, all the facility PM10 emissions from all sources must be reported. For example, in addition to combustion sources, PM10 emissions generated from stockpiles need to be included.
No. This is because the substances on the NPI substance list are not always mutually exclusive. For example, pollutants such as PM10 and VOCs are aggregate substance groups that may comprise the emissions of other substances reported to the NPI.
Do I report substances which are VOCs if I report the NPI substance TVOCs?
If emissions of individual Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), such as benzene, exceed their reporting thresholds, you will need to report them separately as well as reporting 'Total Volatile Organic Compounds' if the threshold for TVOCs is exceeded (See definition of TVOCs).
Why does the substance 4,4'-Methylene-bis(2-chloroaniline) (MOCA) [CASR number 101-14-4] have a different name on the NPI website and in the National Environment Protection Measure for the NPI?
The substance 4,4'-Methylene-bis(2-chloroaniline) (MOCA) [CASR number 101-14-4] is correctly named in the NPI website. MOCA was incorrectly named in the National Environment Protection Measure as 4,4-Methylene bis 2,4 aniline.
Should gas pipeline compressor stations and metering valves report to the NPI?
These facilities should report to the NPI. The main substance expected to be reported is Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCS). Some states and territories may require valve stations to report. Contact the state or territory where the facility is located to determine if reporting is required.
Generally you can estimate zero emissions of fluoride compounds from natural gas and LPG combustion. An exception may be where a facility operator knows that fluoride compounds or fluorine are in the natural gas or LPG they use, or if the methods of using these fuels are likely to result in emissions e.g. in a cement kiln. Check with your supplier and refer to your NPI industry sector manual for more details.
What is the paint manufacturing mass balance tool?
This mass balance tool was developed by Victorian EPA. Two versions are available. An empty version provides some general information about polluting substances. A complete version is set up with fictitious data. This can be used by facilities as an example of entering and keeping the information required. You will need Microsoft Access in order to use the Mass Reporting Tool.
What is the definition of PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)?
For NPI reporting, PAHs are an aggregate substance group made up of the 16 US EPA Priority Pollutant PAHs (or the subset of those for which data is available) and reported as 'total' PAHs. This list of PAHs and their Chemical Abstract Services Registry (CASR) numbers is provided below.
Should 'Total PAHs' be reported, or specific PAHs?
Emissions of Total PAHs should be reported to the NPI.
What is the definition of a TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compound) for NPI reporting purposes?
A TVOC is defined as any chemical compound based on carbon chains or rings with a vapour pressure greater than 0.01 kPa at 293.15 K (i.e. 20 degrees Celsius).
The intent of the inclusion of TVOCs in the NPI is recognition that the combined effect of compounds that contribute to smog formation may not otherwise have been captured due to individual substances not meeting a usage threshold in their own right. The most common sources of TVOCs emissions are from the storage and use of liquid and gaseous fuels, the storage and use of solvents and the combustion of fuels.
The definition is available as a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file.
If you cannot access the definition, please contact the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts- npi@environment.gov.au - to organise a suitable alternative format.
Should a facility report separately on nitrogen, nitrates and nitrites?
The NEPM for the NPI states that total nitrogen refers only to those amounts of nitrogen that give rise to nitrate/nitrite ions. Since this may be possible for a range of nitrogen compounds in a range of environmental conditions, the following pragmatic definition can be applied:
Total Nitrogen is the sum of nitrate (NO3), nitrite (NO2), organic nitrogen and ammonia (all expressed as N).
Note: for laboratory analysis purposes Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) is a test performed that determines both organic nitrogen and ammonia.
Are polychlorinated dioxins and furans reported as total emissions?
For the NPI, polychorinated dioxins and furans are reported as total emissions - i.e. a total of the emissions from each of the species in this class of substances. However, dioxins and furans are often shown in toxic equivalence (TEQ), which is a means of scaling the emissions of each species of dioxin and furans according to their relative toxicity. Hence care should be taken then comparing NPI emissions of polychlorinated dioxins and furans with other sources of information.