NPRI Reporting Requirements 2020–2021

Summary#

This is a notice under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 that tells certain facilities to report what they made, used, released, disposed of, or sent for recycling for a set list of substances in the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) for the calendar years 2020 and 2021. The data are mandatory and will be used by Environment and Climate Change Canada for environmental tracking and public reporting.

What it does#

• Requires facilities that meet the notice’s criteria to collect and submit information about specific substances for the years 2020 and 2021.
• Sets reporting deadlines: information for 2020 must be submitted by June 1, 2021; information for 2021 must be submitted by June 1, 2022.
• Lists the substances and groups of substances covered (see Schedule 1). It includes:
  • A large list of chemicals and metals (Parts 1–3), criteria air contaminants like carbon monoxide and PM2.5 (Part 4), and volatile organic compounds (Part 5).
  • A new requirement to report all isomers of propylene glycol methyl ether acetate and additions such as naphthenic acid fraction compounds and several chemicals added to Group B.
  • Deletions of a few substances from previous lists (listed in the notice).
• Explains which facilities must report (Schedule 3). Examples include:
  • Facilities where employees work 20,000 or more hours in a year.
  • Certain activities regardless of hours worked (for example, large waste incineration, wood preservation, terminal operations, wastewater discharges of 10,000 m3/day or more, and pits/quarries producing 500,000 tonnes or more).
  • Pipeline installations and some specific regulated facilities (e.g., chromium electroplating sites).
• Sets mass and concentration thresholds that trigger reporting for different groups. Examples:
  • Group A substances in Part 1: reporting threshold 10 t and concentration 1% by weight (Table 1).
  • Some named substances have lower thresholds (for example, acrylonitrile at 1,000 kg and cadmium at 5 kg).
  • Criteria air contaminants (Part 4) have thresholds such as 20 t for carbon monoxide and 0.3 t for PM2.5 (Table 2).
  • Individual volatile organic compounds in Part 5 generally require reporting if released to air at 1 t or more.
• Sets out what information must be provided (Schedule 4): quantities released to air/water/land, disposals, transfers for recycling, method used to estimate emissions, pollution‑prevention activities, facility contact and ownership details, and quarterly/monthly breakdowns where required.
• Confirms that some information may be claimed confidential, but the government may still disclose it under the law.
• Notes planned future changes (for reporting years starting 2022) such as tighter stack reporting, separate reporting by combustion vs non‑combustion sources, and reporting fuel types.

Who's affected#

• Environment and Climate Change Canada is the department running the NPRI and enforcing this notice.
• Facilities most likely to be affected include:
  • Manufacturers, chemical plants, refineries and petrochemical facilities.
  • Power plants (including electricity units of 25 MW or more), metal smelters, steel mills and foundries.
  • Oil and gas installations, pipeline terminals, and large crude oil batteries.
  • Mines, quarries and pits that meet the size thresholds.
  • Waste incinerators, wastewater treatment plants with large discharges, pulp and paper mills, and wood‑treatment facilities.
  • Any other sites that manufacture, process or otherwise use listed substances above the notice’s mass or concentration thresholds.
• The notice says over 7,500 facilities reported to the NPRI in the most recent year, so this covers a substantial number of industrial, commercial and other facilities across Canada.
• If it is unclear whether a specific facility meets the notice’s criteria, the notice requires owners/operators to check the schedules; the notice also requires a facility that previously reported to notify the Minister if it no longer meets the criteria.

Why it matters#

• The NPRI gives the public and local communities annual, searchable data about what pollutants are being released, disposed of or recycled near them. That can affect local air and water quality information, health research, and community questions about pollution.
• Reporting pushes companies to measure and track their pollutants and can encourage pollution‑prevention actions. The notice now requires linking some pollution‑prevention actions to particular substances starting with 2021, which helps show what is being done to reduce releases.
• Non‑compliance has penalties under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999; fines can be up to $25,000 for an individual following summary conviction and up to $500,000 for a large corporation on indictment, with higher amounts for repeat offences.
• The notice also signals future tightening of reporting for stacks, combustion vs non‑combustion sources, and fuel types (changes planned for 2022), so affected operators may need to prepare to collect more detailed data.