The website of the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) hosts a public internet database which allows users from the community, industry and government to search for information on the types and amounts of certain substances being emitted to the air, land and water or transported in waste.
This information assists industry and government in environmental planning and management. Through the NPI website the community can access local information about the emission and transfer of potentially polluting or harmful substances which may affect them. The NPI is jointly funded by the Australian Government and State and Territory governments.
Legislative framework underpinning the NPI is the National Environment Protection (National Pollutant Inventory) Measure 1998 (NPI NEPM). The NT EPA meets its obligations under the NPI NEPM by administering the Environment Protection (National Pollutant Inventory) Objective 2004 under the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act 1989. Organisations affected by the NPI reporting requirements criteria are bound by the NPI NEPM and relevant State or Territory legislation to report their facility emissions and transfers.
The NPI program seeks to achieve the following environmental outcomes:
- maintenance and improvement of air, marine, estuarine and freshwater quality
- minimise impacts of hazardous wastes on the environment and
- improvement in the sustainable use of resources
The NPI seeks to deliver these outcomes to attain the national environment protection goals established in the NPI NEPM which are to:
- collect a broad base of information on emissions and transfers of identified substances and
- effectively disseminate the collected information to the community.
Since 1998, larger Australian facilities such as mines, power stations and factories that exceeded NPI reporting thresholds were required to estimate and report their emissions annually. The NPI Online Reporting System (ORS), which is hosted on the NPI website, enhances electronic reporting of facility information, emissions and transfers. Guidance materials such as handbooks and electronic worksheets are available on the NPI website to assist reporters estimate emissions from their facilities.
Estimation of emissions from smaller industry, households and everyday activities (such as motor vehicle use) have been made by State and Territory environment authorities and are available to the public on the NPI website as Aggregated Emissions Data (AED) for various airsheds and catchments.
In the NT, emissions data submitted by industries are assessed by officers for NT EPA prior to lodging with the responsible Australian Government department to be published on the NPI website. Over 100 facilities based in the NT and from several industry sectors report annually to the NPI.
As part of their duties in implementing the NPI NEPM here in the NT, officers have been tasked with:
- helping industries to determine whether or not they need to report
- supporting reporters to register and/or use the NPI ORS
- estimating aggregated emissions data
- promoting the use of the NPI within the Territory and
- assisting those who are interested in accessing the NPI to get the most from it.
More information on the NPI is available on the NPI website.
Operators of facilities in the NT needing assistance should contact:
NPI Officer
Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security
GPO Box 3675, Darwin NT 0801
Phone: 08 8924 4218
Email: npi.officer@nt.gov.au