PRTR initiation - Implementing a PRTR pilot
The primary purpose of the pilot is to determine if any problems in the planned PRTR exist and, if so where they exist, so that corrective actions can be taken prior to full-scale implementation. The lessons learned from the PRTR pilot phase are crucial to development of the PRTR proposal, the next phase in the establishment of a PRTR.
To define the scope of a pilot, your country would choose the subset of industries, chemicals, and local areas that will be included in the trial. At this time, your country may consult with potential reporters and other stakeholders to agree on objectives for the pilot and scope of information to be collected. A pilot then requires many of the same activities as implementing a full PRTR, but on a smaller scale. For additional guidance on determining how your pilot should be selected, please refer to the additional information at the bottom of this page.
To implement a pilot, your country would provide reporting forms and guidance, train government staff, install hardware and software to collect and store PRTR data, conduct reporting workshops, and provide assistance to reporters.
A successful pilot can help your country to anticipate potential problems with the design and implementation of a PRTR and to refine the PRTR prior to implementation on a national scale. In addition, conducting a pilot may help your country to:
- Identify interested parties and raise awareness for the PRTR;
- Showcase the benefits and raise support of a PRTR system;
- Recognize the potential benefits and uses of a national PRTR system;
- Assess whether data collected will be useful for planned applications;
- Test the compatibility of PRTR data for use with data from other PRTR systems in international scale analysis; and
- Understand resources required to implement the PRTR.
For a cost-effective management scheme, you may wish to implement the next element (Developing a PRTR Proposal) or choose another element from the Management scheme elements list.
Relevant tools
- OECD: Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs): A Tool for Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development - Guidance Manual for Governments (1996)
- OECD: Guidance on Elements of a PRTR: Part 2 (Not Yet Available)
- UNITAR and IOMC: Implementing a National PRTR Design Project: A Guidance Document (1997)
- UNITAR and IOMC: Implementing a PRTR Pilot Reporting Trial, UNITAR Guidance Series for Implementing a National PRTR Design Project, Supplement 3 (1997)
- UNITAR, UNEP, and GEF: Final Meeting of the Steering Committee for the GEF Medium-sized project on “POPs Monitoring, Reporting and Information Dissemination using Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs)” (2012)