The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a guidance document on elements of a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), as part of its ongoing PRTR series.
It notes that information from multiple PRTRs can be harmonized when they gather data in ways consistent with each other in definition and scope, but this is not currently the case.
Instead data collected are often specific to a single country or region.
12 November 2014: The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a guidance document on elements of a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), as part of its ongoing PRTR series. It notes that information from multiple PRTRs can be harmonized when they gather data in ways consistent with each other in definition and scope, but this is not currently the case. Instead data collected are often specific to a single country or region.
The OECD guidance document provides: information on elements of a PRTR to national governments that are either designing new PRTRs or revising an existing PRTR; and factors to consider for users of multiple PRTR datasets or who examine different PRTR data. It discusses possible elements for inclusion in PRTR design and describes factors to consider when developing PRTR systems whose data can be harmonized with data from other PRTRs.
Specific elements discussed in the guidance document relate to: reporting, including periodicity, sectors and activity levels; release estimation techniques; efficient system development, including balancing data collection costs with the value of data collected and protecting sensitive information; and dissemination of PRTR information. For each element, the document: compares how existing PRTRs have been designed; presents recommendations from the OECD Council on Implementing PRTRs; and provides options for designing and implementing new or revised PRTRs, which would meet the needs of the implementing country, as well as include data that can be harmonized.
The document also provides resources for developing PRTR systems, and lists documents that address, inter alia: design and implementation of PRTRs; harmonization of sectors, chemicals and activity thresholds; and integration of data for international scale analysis.
The document is published under the responsibility of the Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and the Working Party on Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology of the OECD. [Publication: Guidance Document on Elements of a PRTR: Part I]