The National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) is Canada’s legislated, publicly accessible inventory of pollutant releases (to air, water and land), disposals and transfers for recycling. It is a key resource for:
For the 2015 year, 7284 facilities reported to the NPRI on 343 listed substances.
The National Pollutant Release Inventory’s inception was the result of concerns for heavy metals emitted into the environment. These inventories are required due to legislation passed as part of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) 1999. Concerns about emissions into the air and water, affecting plant life, sea life, and human life resulted in the Canadian Government taking action to attempt to limit releases into the environment. The NPRI is not static.
Changes to the NPRI substance list have included the addition, modification, and removal of substances, as well as changes in the thresholds at which they must be reported. Changes have also been made to various program definitions, technical interpretations, sectoral reporting exemptions, and other reporting criteria. The impact of these changes should be considered when conducting an analysis of historical trends, to avoid confusion between changes in reported values due to new reporting requirements, versus actual changes in releases of pollutants to the environment.
For example, in 2015, there were no changes to the Inventory, whereas in 2016, 21 substances were removed from the Part 1 Group A listings, and thresholds were modified for other substances.
Under the authority of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), owners or operators of facilities that meet published reporting requirements are required to report to the NPRI. Companies that meet reporting requirements but which fail to report, do not report on time, or knowingly submit false or misleading information, face penalties as listed under Section 272 and 273 of CEPA.
This archived web bage acts as a resource for facilities required to report to the NPRI.,The tables included outline substance names and CAS Registry numbers that apply to the speciated VOC entries contained in Part 5 of the NPRI Canada Gazette Notice. Synonyms and common names are also shown where applicable. For more information on these VOCs, please click here to access the archived webpage.
Environment Canada has supplied a list of substances for which industry needs to report. Set up as a downloadable Excel sheet, it is easy to search for the substances your organization may be using, that may be required for NPRI reporting. As of now, there have been no changes to the substance list or threshold for 2017. To download the spreadsheet, click here.
These links will give you more information about preparing your NPRI report.
Guide for Using and Interpreting NPRI Data
Reporting Deadline and Changes to Reporting Requirements
Additional Related Information