Instructional videos: National Pollutant Release Inventory

Intro page

Hi,

This webinar will provide you with an overview of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory program.

The following topics will be discussed during this presentation:

What is the NPRI and why it exists, who reports to the program, what are the requirements for reporting, what substances are listed on the NPRI and what type of information is reported to the NPRI.

We are also going to talk about who uses the NPRI data, what is the standard timeline of the NPRI, the support we provide to reporting facilities, how to access the data, what type of data products are available and what can the data show us.

And finally we are going to talk about the reporting requirements and how they have changed over time.

What is the NPRI?

The NPRI is Canada’s inventory of pollutant releases to air, water and land, as well as disposals and transfers for treatment and recycling.

It was established in 1993, and includes data from 1993 to the most recent reporting year.

The information is collected annually from approximately 7,500 facilities across Canada on over 300 pollutants.

The NPRI includes reporting on toxic substances, air pollutants which contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, and other pollutants of concern.

Why the NPRI exists?

The NPRI and publication of data collected is mandated under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

The NPRI is a key resource for identifying and monitoring sources of pollution in Canada.

The public “right to know” is one of the fundamental principles of the NPRI.

NPRI data can be used to:

Encourage actions to reduce the release of pollutants into the environment;

Improve public understanding; and

Inform other governmental programs.

Who currently reports to the NPRI?

They are many different types of facilities that report to the NPRI program.  A large portion of the reporting facilities are from industrial sectors, such as oil and gas extraction, forest products mills, petroleum refineries, mines, chemical manufacturing facilities, and many others.

Other types of facilities that report to the NPRI include, for example, waste management facilities, municipal waste water treatment plants, electric power generation facilities, and airports.

Certain government departments, such as the Department of National Defence also report to the program.

There are a few sectors and certain activities that are exempt from reporting to the NPRI, such as agriculture, forestry, and oil and gas exploration and drilling.

Also, not all facilities within a sector report to the NPRI because some of them do not meet the reporting requirements of the program.

Reporting Requirements

The NPRI reporting requirements are published every 2 years in Part I of the Canada Gazette, which is the official newspaper of the Government of Canada.

The NPRI is a mandatory survey. Facilities must report to the NPRI if they have a certain number of employees, equivalent to 10 full time employees, or if they carry out certain listed activities, such as incineration or municipal sewage treatment and exceed certain quantities of substances.

Facilities that fail to report to the NPRI when they should have can face penalties under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

The NPRI team is available all year through the helpdesk, to provide guidance and support to facilities who must report. Contact information is available on our website and later in this video.

Which substances are on the NPRI?

Over 300 substances are currently listed on the NPRI, including toxic substances, such as asbestos, bisphenol A and benzene, heavy metals, such as mercury and lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans, air pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and many substances of concern.

The substances are divided into groups with their own set of reporting criteria. These are based on the quantity of a substance that is manufactured, processed or used at the facility, or the quantity of a substance that is released from the facility; or when certain activities occur at the facility.

The full list of substances is available on the NPRI’s website.

What is reported to the NPRI?

The NPRI collects a lot of information. The main part of this information is on the quantities of substances that are released to air, water and land, disposed or recycled.  Each category has several sub-categories.

The releases category includes direct releases to air, surface water and land. And each of these types of releases is further broken down into more specific types, such as smoke stack emissions, spills and leaks, and direct discharges.

Another category of information collected is disposals. A facility can dispose of a substance on-site or off-site, and the disposals can fall into sub categories, such as landfill, land application, underground injection, mine tailings and waste rock.

The substances can also be transferred off-site to be recycled, or further treated prior to their final disposal. Facilities must also report the type of recycling or treatment performed as a sub category, and they must also provide the destination of the transfers.

What is reported to the NPRI? (2)

The NPRI collects many other types of information, such as data about the ownership, the location and the sector type, for each facility.

The program collects information on the type of use of each substance by the facility, if facilities performed pollution prevention activities and the reasons for changes compared to quantities reported in previous years.

Facilities are encouraged to provide additional comments and explanations in their reports to help users understand the data that was reported.

Who uses NPRI data?

NPRI data is used by a variety of users.

These users range from government and international organizations, industry associations and individual companies, to the media, academics, students, non-government organizations and the general Canadian public.

Given the broad variety of users, the NPRI strives to publish information and data that meets the need of all these different user groups.

Standard NPRI timeline

Every two years, in the winter, the NPRI publishes a notice with reporting requirements in the Canada Gazette for the 2 upcoming reporting years.

Facilities can submit their report using the online reporting system, which is launched in March. They have until June 1^st to report their data for the previous calendar year.

As soon as the deadline is passed, the NPRI team starts the review of the data to identify potential reporting errors.  In early July, the NPRI publishes the preliminary set of data, as it was reported by the facilities. This step is to invite facilities to review their data to identify and correct any potential errors. This preliminary data is in draft form and should not be used to perform data analysis, because it can contain errors.

In the fall, once the data has been reviewed, the NPRI team starts preparing a summary report and other analysis, which are published along the reviewed data in multiple formats in December.

Support to reporting facilities

Support is provided to facilities in order to assist them with reporting to the NPRI.

The type of support provided, which are all available through the NPRI website, include general guidance to explain the reporting requirements such as frequently asked questions and video tutorials. 

A Toolbox is also available, which provides facilities with technical guidance, for example on estimation methods, estimation tools and calculators and links to external resources.

And finally, the NPRI team is available all year to provide guidance and support to facilities through the helpdesk. They can contact the program by phone or email.

Tools for accessing NPRI data

NPRI data is available in various formats on the NPRI website, and through the Government of Canada’s Open data portal.

Some are very intuitive and easy to use, whereas others are more comprehensive. Some are tailored to more advanced users and allow for advanced analysis, such as time trends.

A very intuitive and easy way to search for information on a particular facility, substance or location is through the online query site.

The online query site also includes tables of data, called predefined queries, which provide a quick and easy way to find information on a particular topic, such as data by province, industry type and substance.

The NPRI publishes its data for the most recent year in a map layer format that can be used with Google Earth or other virtual globe softwares. This allows users to “explore” NPRI data in an intuitive and visual way and to find recent data about facilities in your city, near your house or anywhere in Canada.

Data is also available for download in various file formats, such as .csv, Excel and Access. These files can be used to create custom analysis and look at data over time.

What can the NPRI data show us?

NPRI data can be used and analyzed for many different purposes. Examples of analysis that can be done using NPRI data include finding pollutant releases, disposals and transfers for the last reporting year and trends over time, defining pollutant profiles of industrial sectors, and pollutant profiles by province or by city. It also allows users to find pollutant releases, disposals and transfers near their house or what kind of pollution prevention activities are facilities doing. 

The NPRI also publishes a summary report on its web site every year, which provides users with an overall analysis of NPRI data.

Can the NPRI requirement be changed?

Anyone can propose changes to the NPRI reporting requirements.

Example of possible changes include: additions of new substances, deletions of listed substances, and changes to reporting thresholds.

Proposed changes are evaluated against a set of criteria as outlined in the Process for proposing and considering changes to the NPRI.

Any proposed changes also undergo consultation with the NPRI Multi-Stakeholder Work Group and are posted on the NPRI website for a public comment period.

More information on how changes are made to the NPRI is available on the NPRI website.

How the NPRI requirements changed overtime

Since the start of the NPRI, the program has expanded to better meet the needs of data users.

As shown by the red line in the graph, over 150 substances have been added to the initial list, including toxic substances and air pollutants.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has also increased the number of facilities required to report by making stricter reporting requirements and by removing certain exemptions.  The blue line on the graph shows the number of facilities that have been reporting to the NPRI each year.

It is important to consider these changes to reporting requirements when analyzing NPRI data.

Contact the NPRI

We hope that this video has provided you with a good introduction to the National Pollutant Release Inventory.

Please contact the NPRI via phone or email if you have questions or require any assistance.

Thank you.

This tutorial demonstrates how to file your NPRI report by using the prepopulation option or by starting a new report.

After you have logged into the Single Window Information Manager, select the link for the NPRI reporting application.

On the welcome page, you have two buttons.

If you are only reporting to NPRI, NERM or NFPRER, click the first button.

If you are reporting to the Ontario Toxics Reduction Act and NPRI and partners or are filing an update for 2019 or earlier, click the second button.

We will focus on the reporting application for NPRI and partners click the first button.

You will see a pop-up message to confirm you are not reporting to ON TRA.

Click the NPRI and Partners button to continue.

The landing page is called the Reporting Dashboard where you can see a list of in progress and submitted reports or start a new report.

You can file an NPRI report by prepopulating using an existing report or start a brand new report. We will first show you how to prepopulate.

You should look at your list of Available Reports to make sure you don't already have a report in progress for the facility you want to file the report for.

If the facility is not listed, click the Prepopulated Report button at the top of the screen.

The first step is to search and choose the previously submitted report that you want to use for prepopulating your new report. Usually this is the last year’s report.

You can search by the NPRI ID, facility name, or reporting year. Or you can leave all fields blank and click Search to bring up a list of all submitted reports to which you have access.

When you find the report you want to use for prepopulating, select the radio button and scroll down to step 2.

The default year is set to the current report year but you can change this if you are creating a report for another year.

Now we are ready to create the report by clicking the Create Reports Button.

You are taken directly into the prepopulated report to begin editing. Notice that all pages on the left menu are incomplete and will require you to visit each one and input the current information.

Let’s look at the screen that allows you to structure your report and refresh your information from SWIM.

Click on the Facility Information from the left menu. When you first come to this screen and use prepopulation, you need to click Refresh from SWIM to pull all current information from SWIM.  

Now, click General Reporting Questions from the left menu.

This screen has a series of questions that allow you to turn on or off specific sections of the NPRI report so that you only see the sections that are relevant to you. In a prepopulated report, the questions will be answered according to what substances and sections you reported in the previous year. If you need to add or remove substances then you need to change the answers on this screen. For example, if you need to add arsenic to your list, you would need to know that it is under Part 1b of the NPRI substance list, and then select YES to reporting for Part 1b substances. Once you do this and save the screen, you will see the Part 1b section on the left menu. You will not see sections that you say NO to on this screen.

Now we will demonstrate how to create a blank report. Click Reporting Dashboard from the breadcrumb at the top of the screen.

Click Blank Report.

You would create a blank report if you are reporting for the first time and do not have any previous submissions to use for prepopulating, or if your information is very different than previously submitted.

First, select the company that the facility belongs to, and then select the report year for which you want to create the report – it will default to the current report year.

Last, either enter the facility name or leave it blank to return all facilities to which you have access. As facility names change over time, it can be easier to leave the field blank and search all. Click the Search button.

Once you see the facility you want to create a report for, select it by clicking the check box to the left of it. You can create more than one report at a time by selecting multiple check boxes.

We will just create one. Click Create reports at the bottom.

The system takes you directly into the report to begin editing. If you had created more than one blank report, then the system would have taken you to the Reporting Dashboard where you would choose which report to edit.

Click Reporting Dashboard from the breadcrumb at the top of the page.

Once back on the dashboard screen, you will see your new reports on the Available reports list. If you have access to more than one company, you may need to select the company from the “company” drop-down menu as it may not be the same as the company you selected on the previous screen. Then click the search button to the right to refresh the Available Reports list.

You can use the action menu to edit, delete, or print the report.

Once the report is ready to submit, you will also see a Submit option.

We have completed the creation of a prepopulated or blank report for the NRPI and Partners. If you have any questions, please contact the NPRI. You can get the contact information for NPRI and partners by clicking on the Help option from the top menu and selecting Contact NPRI.

This tutorial demonstrates how to file a Does Not Meet Criteria or DNMC Report to the National Pollutant Release Inventory using the Single Window system.

A "does not meet criteria" or DNMC report is required if a regular inventory report was submitted in the previous reporting cycle.

If the reporting requirements were met in a certain year and a regular substance report was submitted, then the owner or operator of the facility is required to determine if they need to report again for the following year.

If reporting requirements were not met for the second year, then a DNMC report must be submitted online.

if a DNMC report is submitted, there is no requirement to submit one every subsequent year. The owner or operator simply must check the requirements anually to see if they need to start reporting again.

A DNMC is not required online if an inventory report has never been submitted for a facility.

After you have logged into the Single Window Information Manager, select the NPRI link to go into the NPRI reporting application.

On the welcome page, you have two buttons.

If you are only reporting to NPRI, NERM or NFPRER, click the first button.

If you are reporting to the Ontario Toxics Reduction Act and NPRI and partners, or you are filing an update for 2019 or previous, click the second button.

We will focus on the reporting application for NPRI and partners click the first button.

You will see a pop-up message to confirm you are not reporting to ON TRA.

Click the NPRI and Partners button to continue.

The landing page is called the Reporting Dashboard where you can see a list of in progress and submitted reports or start a new report.

Before creating a new report, you should look at your list of Available Reports to make sure you don’t already have a report in progress for the facility for which you want to submit the DNMC. If the facility is not listed then click the Blank Report button at the top of the screen.

In step 1, select the Company to which the facility belongs. Then, select the reporting year for which you want to submit the DNMC.

You can either search for the facility by entering the facility name in the Facility name field and clicking the Search button or you can leave the Facility name field blank and click Search to bring up a list of all facilities to which you have access.

In Step 2, select the check box of the facility or multiple facilities, for which you want to create the DNMC, then click the Create Reports button.

If that facility has an in progress or submitted report for that year, the Status column will say “Already on Dashboard”. If this is the case you can just click the Back to Dashboard button to return to the Reporting Dashboard screen.

We will create the new DNMC report by clicking the Create Reports button.

In the new reporting system, the DNMC can be combined with a sale, closure or purchase notification.  If you wanted to file both a DNMC report and a notification of sale, closure or purchase, you would select the check box for both of these options. Then click the Save & go to next page button. We will just select the DNMC for this demonstration.

Now we are on the Does not meet criteria (DNMC) report screen.

You need to enter the reason that the reporting criteria were not met for the given year in the provided field and provide as much detail as possible.

When finished, click “save & go to next page”.  

The Facility Information screen contains information that you entered in the Single Window Information manager or SWIM for short, for the company and facility. When you come to this screen for the first time, click “refresh from SWIM” at the bottom to update the information from SWIM.

If you click Save at the bottom then you can easily see any errors at the top of the screen if applicable.

Verify the details on the screen and make any changes needed. Then click Save & go to next page.

This will navigate you to the Contacts screen where you select the appropriate contact for each contact type by using the drop-down menus beside each one.

If you need to add a contact name because it doesn’t appear on the drop-down list, return to SWIM by clicking on the “Here” link in the blue help banner, then add the contact under the organization.

Once you have selected all of the appropriate contacts, click save & go to next page.

The Report Validation is the end of report error check. Review the screen to see if you need to correct any errors in the report and then click “Save & go to Next Page”.

On the Feedback screen, specify your level of satisfaction and enter any comments about the reporting system that you would like to share and click “Save and go back to the Dashboard”.

Click the 3 dots if you need to edit, delete, or print the report.

When you area ready to submit the report, click the Submit icon.

On the Report Submission and Electronic Certification screen, select your language of choice and the Signature check box for the electronic certification, then click the Submit Reports button to complete the submission.

Now you will see the submitted report with date and time stamp in the Progress column. You will also notice the action menu options have changed. You can now update the notification or generate a printable version. The SOC is a Statement of Certification that is used by some companies for internal purposes but is not required by the NPRI and Partners.

We have completed the creation and submission of the Does not meet criteria report. If you have any questions, please contact the NPRI. You can get the contact information for NPRI and partners by clicking on the Help option from the top menu, and selecting Contact NPRI.

This tutorial demonstrates how to file a report of a facility sale, closure or purchase to the National Pollutant Release Inventory using the Single Window system.

If a facility was closed during the reporting year, or was sold or purchased, the owner or operator is required to notify Environment Canada.

For a facility closure, the NPRI requests the date of closure.

For a sale or purchase, the sale or purchase date is requested, along with the details of the old and new facility owners, including contact information.

The person responsible for submitting the NPRI report for the reporting year is the owner or operator as of December 31 of that year.

After you have logged into the Single Window Information Manager, select the link for the NPRI reporting application.

On the welcome page, you have two buttons.

If you are only reporting to NPRI, NERM or NFPRER, click the first button

If you are reporting to the Ontario Toxics Reduction Act and NPRI and partners or filing an update for previous years, click the second button

We will focus on the reporting application for NPRI and partners and click the first button.

You will see a pop-up message to confirm you are not reporting to ON TRA.

Click the NPRI and Partners button to continue.

The landing page is called the Reporting Dashboard where you can see a list of in progress and submitted reports or start a new report.

You can file a sale, closure or purchase report from an existing report or start a brand new report.

You should look at your list of Available Reports to make sure you don’t already have a report in progress for the facility you want to file the sale, close or purchase report for.

Click the Blank Report button.

In step 1, you can search for the facility by entering the name in the Facility name field or you can leave the Facility name field blank and click Search to bring up a list of all facilities to which you have access.

In Step 2, select the check box to the left of the facility for which you want to file the report, then click the Create Reports button.

If that facility has an in progress or submitted report for that year, the Status column will say “Already on Dashboard” and then you can just click the Back to Dashboard button to return to the Reporting Dashboard screen.

If you create more than one report from this screen, you will navigate back to the Reporting Dashboard to edit the reports; however, if you create only one report from this screen, you will navigate directly into the report.

We will just create one by clicking the Create Reports button.

In this reporting system, the sale, closure or purchase report can be combined with an inventory or does not meet criteria report. Select the check boxes beside each report type and click the Save & go to next page button.

Now we are on the Sale, Closure or Purchase screen. In the first section, for all three Types of Reports, you must select the appropriate radio button and the effective date.

Then if the report is a sale or purchase, enter the information about the previous owner and the new owner.

Also, if it is a report of sale, then answer the questions at the bottom of the screen for the contact information of the new owner, the last year of known reporting to the NPRI for the facility, and the check box to release historical information to the new owner.

For a closure, you are only required to enter the effective date.

Once you have completed all the details on this screen click “save & go to next page”. 

The Report Validation screen checks for any errors in the entire report.

Review the screen to see if you need to correct any errors and then click “Save & go to Next Page”

On the Feedback screen, enter any comments about the reporting system that you would like to share and click “Save and go back to the Dashboard”

Click the 3 dots if you need to edit, delete, or print the report.

When you are ready to submit, click the Submit icon.

On the Report Submission and Electronic Certification screen, select your language of choice, the Signature check box for the electronic certification, and then click the Submit Reports button to complete the submission.

Now you will see the submitted report with date stamp in the Progress column. You will also notice the action menu options have changed. You can now update the report, delete it, or generate a printable version. The SOC is a Statement of Certification that is used by some companies for internal purposes but is not required by the NPRI and Partners.

We have completed the creation and submission of an NPRI Sale, Closure or Purchase report. If you have any questions, please contact the NPRI. You can get the contact information for NPRI and partners by clicking on the Help option from the top menu, and selecting Contact NPRI.

This tutorial explains the changes to reporting requirements and demonstrates how to report for Part 4 criteria air contaminants, or CACs, and Part 5 speciated volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and how to assign releases to individual stacks.

Stack/flare height threshold

There have been several changes to the reporting requirements for individual stacks and flares starting with the 2022 reporting year.

For the 2021 reporting year and previous years, releases were assigned to individual stacks and flares that were 50 metres or more in height above grade. Starting with the 2022 reporting year, the height threshold has been lowered to 25 metres.

Stack/flare exit temperature threshold

For the 2021 reporting year and previous years, there was no exit temperature threshold. Starting with the 2022 reporting year, there is an exit temperature threshold of 50 degrees Celsius.

Stack/flare air release thresholds

For the 2021 reporting year and previous years, releases of CACs were assigned to individual stacks or flares if the quantity released exceeded the threshold shown in the middle column of the table. Starting with the 2022 reporting year, the thresholds have been increased for six of the seven CACs, as shown in the third column of the table. Note that the threshold for total VOCs has not changed.

Combustion and fuel use source types

For the 2021 reporting year and previous years, the total quantity of a CAC released from an individual stack or flare would be reported. Starting with the 2022 reporting year, releases from each stack or flare must be broken down into five types of combustion and fuel use source types which are shown here. Consult the Guide for Reporting to the NPRI for detailed definitions of each of the categories.

Basis of estimate

Starting with the 2022 reporting year, a basis of estimate must be reported for each quantity that is released from an individual stack or flare. For example, if releases from stationary fuel combustion for energy purposes and releases from the use of fuels for non-energy products are both reported for the same stack, then each quantity needs a basis of estimate.

Fuel types

Starting with the 2022 reporting year, the fuel types associated with releases from the combustion and fuel use categories shown on the previous slide must also be reported. Consult the Guide for Reporting to the NPRI for detailed definitions of each of the fuel types.

Note that all fuel types that apply must be selected in the system, and some fuel types require that a comment also be provided.

Condensable particulate matter (PM)

Starting with the 2022 reporting year, facilities reporting stack or point releases of PM_2.5, PM₁₀ or total particulate matter must now indicate if their reported releases include condensable particulate matter. Note that only filterable particulate matter must be reported. However, some facilities may need to use a method of quantification that includes both condensable and filterable particulate matter and may not be able to separate out only the filterable fraction. Those facilities will need to indicate this in their report.

Changes have been made to the reporting requirements for Part 5 speciated volatile organic compounds, or speciated VOCs, starting with the 2022 reporting year.

Changes to the thresholds for reporting part 5 speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - facilities

For the 2021 reporting year and previous years, a speciated VOC was reported by a facility if 10 tonnes or more of total VOCs were released from the facility and if 1 tonne or more of the speciated VOC was released from the facility.

Starting with the 2022 reporting year and for future years, a speciated VOC must be reported by a facility if 1 tonne or more of the speciated VOC was released from the facility. The 10-tonne total VOCs threshold no longer applies to reporting of speciated VOCs.

Changes to the thresholds for reporting part 5 speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - stacks and flares

For the 2021 reporting year and previous years, a speciated VOC was  reported by a stack if 10 tonnes or more of total VOCs were released from the facility and if 1 tonne or more of the speciated VOC was released from the facility and if 5 tonnes or more of total VOCs were released from the stack.

Starting with the 2022 reporting year and for future years, a speciated VOC must be reported by a stack if 1 tonne or more of the speciated VOC was released from the facility and 0.25 tonnes were released from the stack. The 5-tonne total VOCs threshold no longer applies to reporting of speciated VOCs from individual stacks.

For the 2021 reporting year and previous years, facilities were not required to report a basis of estimate, the monthly percentage breakdown and the reasons for changes in release from the previous year for speciated VOCs. Starting with the 2022 reporting year and future reporting years, this information must be reported for speciated VOCs.

Now these changes will be demonstrated in the NPRI reporting module.

To report for Part 4 and Part 5 substances, select YES from the drop-down menu for both related questions on the General Reporting Questions screen. Click Save & Go to next page. On this screen, if you say YES to a section, the system will allow you to navigate to those screens. Otherwise, they will remain hidden.

When reporting for one or more Part 4 substances, first fill out the Facility Operating Schedule and Shutdown period information by clicking the Validate Operating Schedule and Shutdown button.

Click on the Add Part 4 Substances button to add any missing substances.

To add data for a CAC, click the edit icon to the right.

On the General Information about the Substance screen, indicate if the reporting requirements have been met by selecting YES from the drop-down menu for reporting to the NPRI, or choose NO for voluntary reporting .

New for 2022, if the facility falls under case 3 or 4 for oil and gas reporting, there is an additional question on this screen. It allows for the user to indicate if there were no releases from a CAC during the year. As Case 3 or 4 reports must contain all 7 CACs, this question allows the user to complete the report without entering zeroes.

To enter Stack or Point Releases, click the edit icon to the right. At the top of the Stack or Point Releases screen, enter the total releases from all stacks and points at the facility. This includes any releases that may need to be assigned to individual stacks or flares below.

If releases do not need to be assigned to individual stacks or flares, then selecting the basis of estimate from the bottom of this screen will complete the stack report.

However, if releases do need to be assigned to individual stacks or flares, first save the data on this screen by clicking Save on the bottom left.

The On-Site Releases screen will display any stacks that were previously created in SWIM or within the NPRI application.

To add a stack, click the Add a stack or flare button on the left.

To edit stack details or delete a stack, use the Actions menu to the right.

To assign releases to a stack or flare, click on the pencil icon. Releases from individual stacks must now be reported separately in five different categories shown here. For example, if the stack is a flare, then releases from the stack will be reported by clicking on the pencil icon for Releases from flaring.

On the stack source breakdown screen, select a basis of estimate and enter a quantity. Select all the fuel types that apply from the list. Some fuel types also require a comment to be provided, detailing the types of fuel used.

If releases in any additional categories need to be reported, click on the pencil icon and follow the same procedure.

Note that there is a sixth category on this page, for “Releases from all sources”, if releases from the separate sources could not be calculated”. If releases could not be calculated separately in the five listed source types, the total of combined releases is reported. However, this source type should only be used as a last resort and facilities are expected to make every effort to report releases separately. If releases are reported under this source type, a comment explaining why must be provided on the next screen.

Repeat these steps for each stack. The system will calculate and display the Total of released quantities that are not assigned to stacks and flares.

Back on the On-Site Releases screen, release quantities and basis of estimate for all the air release quantities except stack or point releases can be entered right on the page.

Note that there is now a mandatory comment field for Other non-point releases

Enter any comments about changes from the previous year’s data to assist us in interpreting the data during the annual quality control exercise.

There are two sections for reporting Part 5 VOCs. The first section is Releases from other sources. Most Part 5 releases are from sources at the facility that are not individual stacks and these releases are reported here.

On the Part 5 - Releases from Other Sources screen, there is a list of all Part 5 VOCs. Select a basis of estimate from the drop-down menu. To sort the list of speciated VOCs by CAS number or substance name, click more options and select a sort order. Enter the releases for each speciated VOC that needs to be reported and click Save & Return when done.

The second section on this page is for Individual stacks and flares. This is where releases of Speciated VOCs are reported if the criteria to report individual stacks are met.

On the part 5 stack/flare releases screen, select a basis of estimate, enter the releases for each speciated VOC and click Save & Return when done.

Fill out the breakdown of annual releases and enter any comments about changes from the previous year’s data to assist us in interpreting the data during the annual quality control exercise.

To summarize, the Part 5 speciated VOC releases can be from individual stacks and flares, or from all other sources at the facility. The Individual stacks and flares meet specific criteria and have Part 5 specific release thresholds as well. To obtain further clarification on these requirements, visit the website and view the Reporting Requirements screen. You can go directly to the website by clicking Help on the top menu, then Program Information.

Also, to contact the NPRI, click the Help option on the top menu bar, then “Contact NPRI”.

This tutorial shows how to download one year of data from the National Pollutant Release Inventory. We will look over the layout of the data and an example of using it. Start from the National Pollutant Release Inventory website.

(on screen: Canada.ca/NPRI)

In the “Most requested” box on the right-hand side, click “Explore data”. Scroll down, and under Download NPRI Data, click “Single year tables.” You can download the data as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV file, for the most recent three years available.

We will be using the 2017 Excel file. Excel files are indicated by the format XLSX. Click “Access” to download and save the file. Depending on your browser, a popup may appear prompting you to open or save the file.

The file contains the most commonly used NPRI data.

The fourth row contains the heading for each column of data, starting with the year, NPRI ID#, and company name.

Each subsequent row contains a single substance report from a single facility. If you scroll to the right, you will find geographical data, sector descriptions and substance names.

Further over are the quantities reported as: releases to air, water and land; on-site and off-site transfers for disposal; and off-site transfers for recycling.

With the Excel spreadsheet, it is easy to find or extract data. Click the arrows in heading row 4 to sort or filter the data to find specific information.

For example, if you want to see which facilities in the city of Ottawa reported to the NPRI, click the arrow for the City heading, uncheck “select all”, scroll down to Ottawa and select it. The spreadsheet is now filtered to show only the list of substances and their quantities as reported by facilities in Ottawa.

Let’s take a closer look at air releases. Scroll over to the Total Air Emissions column, click the arrow in table header and select “Sort Smallest to Largest”. Although it is important to remember when using NPRI data that the units used for measuring different substances may differ.

Let’s go one step further and look at air releases of nitrogen oxides. Go to the Substance Name column, uncheck “select all”, scroll down and select nitrogen oxides. We now have a list of the Ottawa facilities that reported air releases of nitrogen oxides, sorted from the smallest to largest.

To quickly remove all the filters and sorting, go to the Data tab in the top toolbar and click “Clear”.

There are a number of factors to keep in mind when using and interpreting NPRI data. These can be found by following the link “Using and Interpreting NPRI Data” on the NPRI home page. Now it’s your turn to go and explore the NPRI data.