APRIL 20, 2007 - ANNUAL POLLUTANT/EMISSIONS LEGISLATED REPORTING - ABOUT NPRI AND ONTARIO REGULATION 127/01

From time to time, Pottinger Gaherty Environmental Consultants provides clients with informative briefs which we feel will improve the operation of their organization. Recently, many of our clients have come to us with questions regarding NPRI (National Pollutant Release Inventory) and Ontario Regulation (O.Reg.) 127/01 and how these reporting requirements might affect them. Because of the many demands and problems these reporting requirements generate, we thought that a brief summary of the process would help you.

NPRI is a federally legislated inventory for annual releases to air, water, land and disposal or recycling from all sectors - industrial, government, commercial and others. O.Reg. 127/01 (amended through O.Reg. 37/06), the Airborne Contaminant Discharge Monitoring and Reporting Regulation, is a provincially legislated inventory requiring Ontario-based facilities that emit certain quantities of substances to the air to report annually to the Ontario government. The reporting deadline for both is June 1. However, while efforts have and will continue to be made to harmonize the two programs, submissions for these two reports are done separately.

The 3 basic steps to completing a report are summarized as follows:

• Reporting requirement assessment for the current reporting year.
• Estimate quantities (i.e. for releases, disposals & transfers for recycling quantities) and gather other information, if required to report.
• Submit the report (i.e. through OWNERS, Environment Canada’s electronic reporting system) and ensure proper records are in place.

Determining if your operation is required to report or not

The range of businesses covered by NPRI and O.Reg 127/01 is wide and there are many that are not aware of their requirement to report under these regulations. While operations such as power plants and large chemical facilities are obvious reporters, it may not be as apparent that paint facilities, galvanizing metal operations, and printing facilities, for example, must also report. Determining which operations are required to report can be a complex process. Simply exceeding levels set for the total amount of hours worked at the facility by staff and the cumulative potential energy use by stationary equipment, for example, may indicate the need for a reporting requirement assessment.

Even though a facility is not required to report for the current reporting year, notification (via mail and/or through OWNERS) must be sent to the MOE within 30 days of the reporting deadline if reporting was required for the previous reporting year.

A facility must also notify the MOE within 30 days of becoming aware of the following:

• A change in contact information, including owner, public, coordinator, or technical contact.
• A mistake or inaccuracy in a previous report (note: may formally request more time).
• A change in ownership.

Notable Changes for the 2006 Reporting Year (specific to NPRI) are:

• Additional substances and groups of compounds added to NPRI list (i.e. 3 under Part 2; 15 under Part 5).
• Some portable facilities are now required to report (i.e. PCB destruction equipment; asphalt plants; concrete batching plants).
• The mining exemption has been removed (with limited requirements for pits & quarries; see definitions).
• Notification requirements previously discussed (i.e. notices within 30 days).
• Statement of Certification replaced with electronic certification in OWNERS.

Avoiding Estimating and Reporting Errors

The estimation and reporting process is not straightforward and errors can have many implications for your business. For example, reporting a material quantity used at a facility as the amount released from the facility is one of many common mistakes. This over-reporting will make it appear that your facility is releasing much more material into the environment than it actually is and can have a negative impact by needlessly attracting the attention of both regulatory enforcement and the general public to your facility.

Similarly, as a lot of work is involved in the proper preparation and submission of a report, companies often underestimate the amount of time that is necessary to complete them. As a result, an insufficient amount of resources are allocated to the work which leads to the submission of reports that are inaccurate, inconsistent, incomplete, or late. Again, each of these errors can lead to unnecessary scrutiny and extra cost.

Using Professional Consultant Services for Emission Reporting

A professional environmental consultant has the knowledge and skill to quickly and accurately assess a facility’s emissions and resulting reporting requirements. Some of the many reasons you should rely on professionals like Pottinger Gaherty to assist you with your emissions reporting requirements are to:

• Determine if reporting is required at all.
• Provide accurate and proper reports (which must be on site, whether required to report or not) that MOE and Environment Canada may request during site inspections and/or use in the evaluation of reduction targets for your facility.
• Reduce the chance for MOE investigations of your operation prompted by reporting abnormalities (e.g. inconsistencies between years or companies within the same industry).

Professional services offered by Pottinger Gaherty

• Complete package (The ‘3 basic steps’ above) including data collection if requested.
• Review of data/reports compiled by others (i.e. your company staff; another consultant).
• Training.
• General advisement.