6.5 EPA nonpoint data
For the 2023 NEI, the EPA developed emission estimates for many nonpoint sectors in collaboration with a consortium of inventory developers from various state agencies regional planning organizations called the Nonpoint Method Advisory (NOMAD) Committee. Initiated for the 2014 NEI cycle, the broad NOMAD committee meets approximately monthly to discuss the overall progress on the various sectors for which tools and/or estimates are being developed or refined. During the 2023 NEI development process, NOMAD collaboration meetings focused on overall wagon wheel and associated input template development schedules, and a deeper dive into specific source categories that were undergoing methodology or significant activity data changes, such as campfires, other ammonia, residential wood combustion, cooking, road dust, agricultural NH3 livestock and fertilizer application, and industrial and commercial/institutional fuel combustion. Separate oil and gas subcommittee meetings also tracked the development of the oil and gas production and exploration tools.
These meetings covered methodologies, emission factors, and SCCs, allowing the EPA to prepare the “default” emission estimates/methodologies and/or input template formats for S/L/T agencies using the group’s final approaches. With the 2023 NEI, we continue to prioritize gathering of S/L/T input activity data, rather than emission submittals, which makes for a more transparent quality assurance process as we have readily available tracking of the inputs as well as resulting outputs (emissions). With S/L/Ts using the wagon wheel or submitting inputs, we can ensure that the methodology used to estimate the final emissions for all Wagon Wheel sectors is consistent.
During the 2023 NEI inventory development cycle, S/L/T agencies, using the nonpoint survey, could accept the NOMAD/EPA estimates to supplement/fulfill their nonpoint emissions reporting requirements. The EPA encouraged S/L/T agencies that did not use the EPA’s estimates or tools to improve upon these “default” methodologies and submit input data directly.
Table 6.6 lists all EPA-developed emission estimates, technical support documentation (TSD) section number, and an indication of whether the Wagon Wheel (WW) or Oil and Gas Production and Exploration (OG) tools (v1.2) are available on the 2023 NEI Supplemental Nonpoint data FTP site. Table 6.6 also flags EPA estimation categories where reconciliation with the Point inventory is recommended; that is, nonpoint estimates utilize activity data encompassing the entire source category (point and nonpoint total), and the tools and/or point emissions or activity data are needed from user inputs to compute the nonpoint data category component. All EPA methodologies are discussed in the remaining nonpoint sectors that follow; however, some tables (primarily emission factors) were too large to include in this TSD, and for WW source categories, we direct the reader to the “NEI_2023_Wagon_Wheel_EFs_FINAL.xlsx” on the 2023 NEI Documentation site. for more information on emission factors. The SCCs associated with the EPA nonpoint data categories are provided in each of these sections and can also be found on the EPA SCC Search website.
| EPA Estimate Category/Sector | EPA Tool | Point Recon.? | TSD Section Name | TSD Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biogenics - Vegetation and Soil & Agriculture - Fertilizer Application | – | N | Vegetation and Soils (BEIS) Emissions: CO, NO, and VOC | 7 |
| Agriculture - Fertilizer Application & Biogenics - Vegetation and Soil | – | N | Agricultural and Non-agricultural Lands (STAGE) Emissions: NH3 | 8 |
| Mobile - Commercial Marine Vessels | – | N | Commercial Marine Vessels | 9 |
| Mobile - Locomotives | – | N | Locomotives | 10 |
| Industrial Processes - Oil & Gas Production | OG | Y | Oil and Gas Exploration and Production | 11 |
| Portable Fuel Containers | – | N | Portable Fuel Containers | 12 |
| Fires - Agricultural Field Burning | – | N | Fires -Wild, Prescribed, and Field Burning | 13 |
| Fires - Prescribed Fires | – | N | Fires -Wild, Prescribed, and Field Burning | 13 |
| Fires - Wildfires | – | N | Fires -Wild, Prescribed, and Field Burning | 13 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Structure and Motor Vehicle Fires | WW | N | Motor Vehicle and Structure Fires | 14 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Landfills (working face) | WW | N | Nonpoint Non-Combustion Mercury | 15 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Switches and Relays | WW | N | Nonpoint Non-Combustion Mercury | 15 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Fluorescent Lamp Breakage/Recycling | WW | N | Nonpoint Non-Combustion Mercury | 15 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Dental Amalgam | WW | N | Nonpoint Non-Combustion Mercury | 15 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: General Laboratory Activities | WW | N | Nonpoint Non-Combustion Mercury | 15 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Thermostats/Thermometers | WW | N | Nonpoint Non-Combustion Mercury | 15 |
| Bulk Gasoline Terminals | WW | Y | Nonpoint Gasoline Distribution | 16 |
| Gas Stations: Aviation Gasoline | WW | N | Nonpoint Gasoline Distribution | 16 |
| Gas Stations: Stage 1 Gasoline Distribution | WW | Y | Nonpoint Gasoline Distribution | 16 |
| Storage + Transport: Stage 1 Gasoline Distribution | WW | Y | Nonpoint Gasoline Distribution | 16 |
| Agriculture - Livestock Waste | WW | N | Agriculture - Livestock Waste | 17 |
| Agricultural Silage | WW | N | Agricultural Silage | 18 |
| Dust: Ag Tilling | WW | N | Agriculture - Crops and Livestock Dust | 19 |
| Dust: Animal Hooves | WW | N | Dust: Agriculture Crops and Livestock | 19 |
| Dust - Construction Dust: Residential | WW | N | Dust: Residential Construction | 20 |
| Dust - Construction Dust: Non-Residential | WW | N | Dust: Non-Residential Construction | 21 |
| Dust - Construction Dust: Roads | WW | N | Dust: Road Construction | 22 |
| Dust - Paved Road Dust | WW | N | Dust: Paved and Unpaved Roads | 23 |
| Dust - Unpaved Road Dust | WW | N | Dust: Paved and Unpaved Roads | 23 |
| Industrial Processes - Mining | WW | N | Dust: Mining and Quarrying | 24 |
| Cooking, commercial and residential | WW | N | Commercial and Residential Cooking | 25 |
| Fuel Comb - Comm/Institutional - Biomass | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Comm/Institutional - Coal | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Comm/Institutional - Natural Gas | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Comm/Institutional - Oil | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Comm/Institutional - Other | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Industrial Boilers, ICEs - Biomass | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Industrial Boilers, ICEs - Coal | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Industrial Boilers, ICEs - Natural Gas | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Industrial Boilers, ICEs - Oil | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Industrial Boilers, ICEs - Other | WW | Y | Fuel Combustion -Nonpoint Industrial and Commercial/Institutional Boilers and ICEs | 26 |
| Fuel Comb - Residential - Natural Gas | WW | N | Fuel Combustion - Residential Heating -Natural Gas, Oil, and Other | 27 |
| Fuel Comb - Residential - Oil | WW | N | Fuel Combustion - Residential Heating -Natural Gas, Oil, and Other | 27 |
| Fuel Comb - Residential - Other | WW | N | Fuel Combustion - Residential Heating -Natural Gas, Oil, and Other | 27 |
| Fuel Comb - Residential – Wood | WW | N | Fuel Combustion - Residential Heating: Wood | 28 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Campfires | WW | N | Campfires | 29 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Cremation - Human and Animal | WW | N | Human and Animal Cremation | 30 |
| Solvent - Consumer & Commercial Solvent Use: Asphalt | WW | N | Asphalt Paving and Roofing Asphalt | 31 |
| Solvent - Consumer & Commercial Solvent Use | WW | Y | Solvents | 32 |
| Solvent - Degreasing | WW | Y | Solvents | 32 |
| Solvent - Dry Cleaning | WW | Y | Solvents | 32 |
| Solvent - Graphic Arts | WW | Y | Solvents | 32 |
| Solvent - Industrial Surface Coating & Solvent Use | WW | Y | Solvents | 32 |
| Solvent - Non-Industrial Surface Coating | WW | Y | Solvents | 32 |
| Waste Disposal: Composting | WW | N | Composting | 33 |
| Waste Disposal: Open Burning - Land Clearing Debris | WW | N | Open Burning - Land Clearing Debris | 34 |
| Waste Disposal: Open Burning - Residential Household Waste | WW | N | Open Burning - Residential Household Waste | 35 |
| Waste Disposal: Open Burning - Yard Waste | WW | N | Open Burning - Yard Waste | 36 |
| Waste Disposal: Nonpoint Publicly-Owned Treatment Works | WW | Y | Publicly-Owned Treatment Works | 37 |
| Agriculture - Livestock Waste: Other Ammonia | WW | N | Other Ammonia Sources | 38 |
| Miscellaneous Non-Industrial NEC: Other Ammonia | WW | N | Other Ammonia Sources | 38 |