The 1996 national toxics inventory and its role in evaluating the EPA's progress in reducing hazardous air pollutants in ambient air
Requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) have established the need for a more comprehensive hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions inventory effort that can be used to track progress by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over time in reducing HAPs in ambient air. In response, EPA has established goals for the air toxics program that require first a demonstration of HAP emissions reductions and, in later years, a demonstration of reduced public risk from HAP emissions. To estimate risk, EPA compiled the National Toxics Inventory (NTI) to provide a model-ready emissions inventory to perform dispersion and exposure modeling. The 1996 NTI contains estimates of facility-specific HAP emissions and their source-specific parameters necessary for modeling such as location and facility characteristics (stack height, exit velocity, temperature, etc.). Complete source category coverage is needed for GPRA reporting, and the NTI contains estimates of emissions from major, area, and mobile source categories. Compiling this huge amount of data presents a significant challenge to EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). Since HAP estimates were not previously required, current data are limited and new methodologies for estimating emissions are necessary. To compile the data, OAQPS solicited HAP emissions data from states, and 36 states delivered the HAP emissions inventories they have compiled. These state data vary in completeness, format, and quality. OAQPS evaluated the state data and supplemented it with data gathered while developing Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards and with Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data. This paper discusses the compilation of the draft 1996 NTI and its use for reporting on the success of EPA's national air toxics program.
- Research Organization:
- Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20002225
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-990608--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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