Frequently asked questions
This page provides further information on the following points:
What is the NPI?
Why was the NPI developed?
Is the NPI national legislation?
What does the NPI involve?
Implementing the variation to the NPI NEPM
What is the NPI?
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) is a public database of emissions to air, land and water, and transfers in waste of 93 substances. The NPI program is co-ordinated Australia wide by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. 
Detailed information about the program can be found at the NPI website, as can the NPI database itself. The NPI website also provides contextual information about the data including details of the health and environmental effects of the various substances.
Why was the NPI developed?
There were three main objectives behind the development of the NPI, which is a result of several years of co-operation between state, territory and Commonwealth governments:
- satisfy the community's right to know about pollutants in their environment
- promote resource efficiency activities within industry
- provide relevant and up-to-date information to government to assist in future environmental planning and management.
Is the NPI national legislation?
The NPI was developed as a National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM) by the National Environment Protection Council (NEPC) on 27 February 1998. The NEPC is a statutory body made up of the Commonwealth, state and territory environment ministers. The council has goals of ensuring that all people in Australia enjoy equivalent protection from air, water, soil and noise pollution.
What does the NPI involve?
Larger Australian industrial facilities are required to estimate and report annually their emissions and transfers of all of the 93 listed substances for which they trip the thresholds. Estimates of emissions from smaller industry, households and everyday activities are estimated by governments for the major population centres around the country and then included in the database.
These non-industry sources include house painting, motor vehicles, wood-fire smoke and even lawn mowers for emissions to air. Similarly, emissions to water of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture, urban runoff and native vegetation are included. These so-called aggregated emissions from non-industry sources have been included to dispel the myth that only industry causes pollution, by showing the combined impact of all activities on the environment.
Implementing the variation to the NPI NEPM
At the meeting of the Environment Protection and Heritage Council in June 2007, Ministers agreed to vary the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) National Environment Protection Measure (NEPM). The variation put into place a number of changes including the reporting of transfers of NPI substances in waste to final destination, reporting of new substances, a lowered usage threshold for mercury and compounds and a change in the release date of annual data.
For more information, go to the NPI website - www.npi.gov.au
