After completion of this course, learners will be able to explain the fundamental aspects of Emissions Inventories. This course is comprised of 4 modules and an exam. The modules are as follows:

Module 1: What is an Emissions Inventory?
Upon completion of this module, learners will be able to explain the basic aspects of an air emissions inventory, including:
  • Defining an air emissions inventory
  • Identifying the elements that constitute an emissions inventory
  • Describing the types of pollutants found in inventories
  • Describing how pollutants are represented in inventories
  • Describing the sources found in inventories
  • Explaining the geographic components of an emissions inventory
  • Explaining the temporal components of an emissions inventory
  • Explaining the emissions components of an emissions inventory
Module 2: Purposes and Types of Emissions Inventories
After completion of this module, learners will be able to explain the purposes and types of air emissions inventories, including:
  • Explaining the purpose of emissions inventories
  • Describing how different types of emissions inventories can meet different needs
  • Describing the three national emissions inventories that the EPA develops
  • Explaining how the three national emissions inventories differ
  • Explaining the key uses of emissions inventories
Module 3: Developing Air Emissions Inventories
After completion of this module, learners will be able to describe the approaches, methods and tools/data used for building emissions inventories, including:
  • Explaining how existing inventories and other resources contribute to emissions inventory development
  • Identifying the key considerations in developing a workplan for emissions inventory building
  • Defining activity data
  • Identifying examples of activity data
  • Describing general approaches for data collection for emissions inventory development
  • Describing data collection processes used for point sources
  • Describing data collection processes used for nonpoint sources
  • Identifying examples of data collected for other types of sources (mobile, fires and biogenic)
  • Identifying the methods used for estimating emissions
  • Describing the considerations for choosing a method for estimating emissions
  • Explaining why documentation is important when developing an emissions inventory
  • Explaining the types of information included in documenting an emissions inventory
  • Explaining how quality assurance relates to emissions inventories
  • Describing some basic aspects of a quality assurance program
Module 4: National Emissions Inventories
After completion of this module, learners will be able to explain the key aspects of the National Emissions Inventory (NEI), including:
  • Defining the National Emissions Inventory
  • Explaining the general concepts of the National Emissions Inventory
  • Explaining the purposes and key goals of the NEI
  • Explaining the uses of the NEI
  • Defining the key inventory elements provided by the NEI
  • Describing each of the key inventory elements as they pertain to the NEI
  • Identifying the three primary methods used to categorize emissions sources in the NEI
  • Describing how each of the three methods organize emissions source data within the NEI
  • Describing generally how the NEI is created
  • Explaining the process and timeline for NEI development