The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy conducts an inventory of air emissions each year using reports from permitted facilities.

This inventory annually collects air emission information from major industrial sources and triennially from lower-emitting minor industrial sources. Each year, the department issues a list of facilities required to complete their reporting, and those reports are due on March 31.

Using these inventories, NDEE assists the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in preparing a comprehensive national inventory of emissions, which is developed every three years. The national inventory is used to support the planning efforts for national rulemaking and to assess trends in emissions through time. NDEE also uses air emissions data to assess trends, draft permits, and conduct compliance inspections.

NDEE also uses emission inventories to assess annual emission fees for facilities permitted as major sources. These facilities pay emission fees for each ton of regulated air pollutants emitted during the previous calendar year. The pollutants facilities pay fees for are defined in Title 129 – Nebraska Air Quality Regulations, Chapter 1, Section 002.86.

These fees are used to pay the direct and indirect costs of NDEE’s administration of the air quality permit program. An analysis detailing how the department determines the fee rate is made available to fee payers. The rate for emissions generated in 2022 was $51 per ton.

To help reporting facilities submit accurate and timely inventories, NDEE transitioned to a new online reporting system called State and Local Emissions Inventory System (SLEIS) in 2019. The agency hosted webinars and developed guidance on how to use this program, including a series of tutorial videos.

These emission inventories not only give the state and EPA an overview of the air pollutants emitted over the year, it also gives valuable information for rule-making and fee setting that ensures air quality is protected.