The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) is an Australia-wide database of pollutants that are:
- emitted to our environment
- transferred in waste for treatment, energy recovery or disposal.
It is a joint initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments, which aims to:
- maintain and improve air and water quality
- minimise environmental impacts associated with hazardous waste
- improve the sustainable use of resources.
It provides information on the emission and transfer of 93 substances, listed on the NPI website.
Emissions come from specific sources, such as factories or spread out (diffuse) sources, such as motor vehicles and households.
NPI Emissions data:
- has a long history and has been collected since 1998
- is collected by all states and territories across multiple industries
- is published by the Australian Government on 31 March each year on the NPI website
- shows the community where pollutants are being emitted to the environment
- increases community awareness of the contribution of emissions from different sources and industries.
Over 900 Victorian facilities report to the NPI each year.
The NPI does not include greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane. National greenhouse gas emissions data is published by the Australian National Greenhouse Accounts.
To access the NPI database and find out more about emissions in your area, visit the NPI website.
Your reporting obligations
Your business must report to the NPI if your facility meets or exceeds the reporting thresholds in a given year.
To find out if you exceed the reporting thresholds, you need to estimate your emissions and transfers. Reporting thresholds and requirements and the complete list of 93 substances are provided in the National Pollutant Inventory Guide. Estimation methods for specific industry sectors are explained in the Emission Estimation Technique manuals on the NPI website.
Lodge your report by using the online reporting system.
You can register for the online reporting system by completing a user registration form and emailing it to npi.victoria@epa.vic.gov.au.
Businesses must lodge their NPI reports within 3 months after the end of the reporting period.
For more information on how to lodge your NPI report, visit the User guide for the online reporting system on the NPI website.
Our role enforcing the NPI reporting obligations
We're responsible for implementing the NPI program in Victoria. The Environment Protection Regulations 2021 set out the reporting obligations for Victorian businesses.
NPI data comes from both permissioned and non-permissioned facilities. A business may need to report to the NPI even if it does not hold an EPA permission.
Our NPI team:
- validates reports from Victorian industry and facilities
- provides reports to the Australian Government for inclusion on the public database
- conducts compliance inspections of facilities.
Under the Regulations, there are penalties for not:
- submitting a report on time
- exercising due diligence in gathering and providing the required data
- keeping data used to work out if threshold limits were reached
- keeping data on emissions and mandatory transfer calculations.
If you have any questions about the NPI, contact us at npi.victoria@epa.vic.gov.au.
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