Businesses have to report on their emissions and waste transfers if they trip the reporting thresholds which are defined for 93 substances, rates of burning waste and fuel and the rate and type of electricity usage.

A series of Emission Estimation Technique (EET) manuals have been developed for each reporting industry. These outline the industry processes, various methods for estimating emissions and equations for converting different types of measurement.

The full list of manuals is available on the NPI website at:  http://www.npi.gov.au/reporting/industry-reporting-materials/emission-estimation-technique-manuals

The aim of the program is to:

• Maintain and improve air and water quality
• Minimise environmental impact associated with hazardous waste
• Improve the sustainable use of resources.

For information see: http://www.scew.gov.au/nepms/national-pollutant-inventory

For the legislative instrument see: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/F2007B01123

Note that this inventory does not include greenhouse gas emissions which are covered under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme.