The NPI obligation is triggered by what happens at a facility, such as the substances used, the fuel burnt and the electricity consumed. It is not triggered by the facility’s licence status.
Key points
- NPI reporting does not depend on licence status
- Thresholds, not permits, trigger the obligation
- EPA Victoria and EPA SA confirm unlicensed sites may report
- Diesel use is a common trigger
- Test each site against the thresholds every year
Why licensing and the NPI are separate
Environmental licences are issued under state and territory law to control specific activities. NPI reporting flows from the NPI NEPM and applies to any facility whose occupier exceeds a threshold in an industry covered by published reporting materials. A facility can therefore be outside the licensing system and still inside the NPI.
What regulators say
- EPA Victoria, which receives NPI reports from over 900 Victorian facilities: a business may need to report to the NPI even if it does not hold an EPA permission.
- EPA South Australia: a business may need to report even if it is not licensed by the EPA, and South Australian NPI data comes from both licensed and non-licensed facilities.
How to check
Test each site against every threshold category each year: use of Category 1 substances, total volatile organic compounds and mercury, fuel and waste burnt, electricity consumption and power rating, and nitrogen and phosphorus discharges. Then check whether the facility’s ANZSIC code is covered by published reporting materials, and whether an exclusion in clause 9(11) of the NEPM applies.
Common triggers
Fuel use is a common trigger, because burning about 478,000 litres of diesel a year trips Category 2a. Mercury is another surprise, because the Category 1b threshold is only 5 kilograms a year. DCCEEW publishes contact details for every state and territory NPI office, and each office can advise whether a site needs to report.
Why it matters
Unlicensed facilities are less likely to be on a regulator’s radar, so an obligation can go unnoticed until an audit. The obligation applies from the first reporting period in which a threshold is exceeded, whether or not the facility holds any environmental approval.
References & sources
Primary regulatory documents and authoritative references underpinning this answer.