Incorporation of the 1996 Periodic Emission Inventory into EPA's National Emission Trends Inventory

摘要

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require that state and local agencies prepare and submit a periodic emission inventory to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Periodic Inventory for 1996 was due to EPA by July 15, 1998. Because of the changes to the ozone and particulate standards, the 1996 inventory becomes very important. While the impact of past inventories on policy decisions has not been fully recognized, the effects of the 1996 emission inventory will be immediate. Compiling an emission inventory is resource intensive. To reduce this burden from that experienced in 1990, a new approach has been designed. State and local air agencies will have three options for compiling and submitting their estimates for 1996. These options are: 1) the agency provides a complete, updated 1996 inventory for their state/local jurisdiction; 2) the agency accepts the preliminary inventory provided by EPA; or 3) the agency utilizes a combination of the first two approaches by supplementing the preliminary inventory supplied by EPA with new/updated data. Each year, the EPA develops emission estimates for the criteria pollutants for the entire U.S. in order to assess trends in these emissions. These annual emission estimates are developed for point, area, and mobile sources. These emission estimates are known as the National Emission Trends (NET) inventory. The NET inventory was utilized as the preliminary inventory provided to State and local air agencies for use in the 1996 Periodic Inventory effort. When the State and local air agencies submit their 1996 Periodic Inventories, EPA will incorporate that data into the NET inventory. This paper outlines the approach that will be utilized in performing the update of the NET with the 1996 Periodic Inventory.