Update: Canada s National Pollutant Release Inventory

Transcription

1 Update: Canada s National Pollutant Release Inventory Public Meeting of the North American PRTR Project Washington, D.C. October 18, 2016 Jody Rosenberger

2 Contents About the NPRI Recent and future changes to the NPRI requirements Accessing NPRI data Highlights of 2014 NPRI data Page 2 October 18, 2016

3 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. 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 data are used by governments (federal, provincial, municipal), academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, financial institutions and media Page 3 October 18, 2016

4 Who reports to the NPRI? NPRI requirements apply to facilities from all sectors With limited exemptions such as agriculture and forestry Facilities are subject to the requirements if they: Have a certain number of employees ( hours) Carry out activities to which the employee threshold does not apply (e.g. incineration, wastewater treatment), are pipeline installations, or have stationary combustion Individual substances may be reportable based on: Thresholds for quantity manufactured, processed or used; or quantity released (for air pollutants) Activities (dioxins/furans and hexachlorobenzene) Page 4 October 18, 2016

5 NPRI Substances Over 300 substances are listed on the NPRI The list of NPRI substances is split into 5 parts; each has its own reporting criteria and requirements These parts are: Part 1 Core Substances (Part 1A) and Substances with a Reduced Threshold (Part 1B) Part 2 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Part 3 Dioxins, Furans & Hexachlorobenzene Part 4 Criteria Air Contaminants (CACs) Part 5 Speciated Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Page 5 October 18, 2016

6 What is Reported to the NPRI? Page 6 October 18, 2016 Quantities Releases: air, surface water, land Disposals (on-site): landfill, land application, tailings/waste rock, underground injection Transfers (off-site): Disposal, Treatment, Recycling or Energy Recovery (including destination) Other information Facility information: location, NAICS, contacts Type of use: e.g. for sale, byproduct; additive Pollution Prevention Reasons for changes Comments

7 The NPRI has expanded since its inception Since the first year of the NPRI: 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 Page 7 October 18, 2016

8 These changes are reflected in the reported quantities Page 8 October 18, 2016

9 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: Page 9 October 18, 2016

10 Increasing Relevance and Understandability: Recent Changes to NPRI Requirements Requirements are published in the Canada Gazette every 2 years, under authority of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 Changes as of 2016/2017 (published February 2016): Reporting of additional information regarding concentration and detection limits for water releases Reduction of the threshold for reporting of Cobalt (and its compounds) to 50 kg, at greater than 0.1 % concentration (except for by-products) Deletion of 21 substances Page 10 October 18, 2016

11 Potential Future Changes to the NPRI Requirements A number of changes are currently being considered for or for subsequent reporting years, including: Review of NPRI substance list and alignment with Chemicals Management Plan (possible additions, threshold changes and deletions) Review of reporting from oil & gas extraction sector (next slides) Addition of Naphthenic Acids and radionuclides Changes to reporting of air pollutants (Part 4 substances) Changes to address input from data users (e.g., explaining changes in reported quantities, pollution prevention) Potential changes are consulted on (primarily through the NPRI Multi- Stakeholder Work Group) before ECCC makes decisions Recently updated process and criteria for making changes The Canada Gazette Notice is planned to be published in December Page 11 October 18, 2016

12 Oil and Gas Sector Review (Phase 2) WHAT? WHY? i) To achieve greater reporting coverage of pollutants of concern from oil and gas extraction facilities (and activities) that don t currently report, or are difficult to track through the NPRI ii)to simplify data collection and reporting for industry and ECCC These facilities collectively are a significant source of air pollutant emissions. A large majority don t currently report to the NPRI for a variety of reasons. Facilities within the scope include, for example: oil and gas wells compressor stations/natural gas gathering stations oil & gas batteries natural gas plants Page 12 October 18, 2016

13 Efforts to Improve Accessibility and Usability of NPRI Data NPRI is well positioned to support Government of Canada goals related to Open Data, given a key objective of NPRI is to make information publicly available, supporting right-to-know NPRI data products have been transformed to align with Open Data principles all NPRI data products have been available through the Government of Canada Open Data Portal since 2014 regular review and expansion of our offerings of both raw and geospatial products with annual data updates current offering includes 71 NPRI products/files NPRI data is also available on the Open Maps platform, allowing the public to combine, visualize, and analyze geospatial data Available at: Page 13 October 18, 2016

14 NPRI data can be accessed from the NPRI website and the GoC Open Data Portal Various data formats are available, to meet needs of different users: 1. NPRI Online Query Site: Quick and easy to find information on a particular facility 2. Predefined Queries: Easy to access data for 5 most recent years by province, industry type and substance 3. NPRI Map Layers for Use in Google Earth: Explore NPRI data visually 4. Microsoft Excel or CSV Files Tabular Data: Most common fields in a simplified spreadsheet format Page 14 October 18, 2016

15 NPRI data can be accessed from the NPRI website and the GoC Open Data Portal 5. Microsoft Excel or CSV files Bulk Data: Useful for custom analysis for technical users (industry-level analysis, time trends, etc.). Optimized for pivot table analysis. For all reporting years, grouped into sets for Releases, Disposals, and Transfers. Comments and Facility Geo Locations tables also available to provide contextual information and support geographical analyses. 6. NPRI Database (Microsoft Access Format): The core content from the database is made available in other formats. For specific needs, the Access DB can be made available upon request. Page 15 October 18, 2016

16 Reviewed Data for 2014 Released December 2015 Data products accompanied by an Overview Report Highlights: 7,720 facilities reported to the NPRI in substances Total reported quantities: 5,014,714 tonnes Direct releases: 68% Page 16 October 18, 2016

17 Reviewed Data for 2014 Trends in Reported Releases Direct releases (to Air, Water and Land) decreased by 22% from 2005 to 2014 Direct releases: 68% Page 17 October 18, 2016

18 Location of facilities reporting to NPRI (2014, all media, all substances) Page 18 October 18, 2016

19 Location of facilities reporting to NPRI (2014, releases to air, criteria air contaminants) Page 19 October 18, 2016

20 Location of facilities reporting to NPRI (2014, releases to air, other substances) Page 20 October 18, 2016

21 Location of facilities reporting to NPRI (2014, releases to water, all substances) Page 21 October 18, 2016

22 Questions / Comments? Contact information for the NPRI: Environment and Climate Change Canada Place Vincent Massey Gatineau, Québec K1A 0H3 Tel: ec.inrp-npri.ec@canada.ca NPRI Website: Thank you! Page 22 October 18, 2016