What are EPA’s plans for the 2020 National Emissions Inventory given the atypical situation from COVID-19 that is impacting emissions? What will it be used for?

The EPA intends to prepare a 2020 National Emissions Inventory in collaboration with state, local, and tribal air agency partners.  The Air Emissions Reporting Rule (AERR) requires states and delegated local and tribal agencies to report emissions from stationary sources and provide model inputs for onroad and nonroad sources (except California, which reports emissions for onroad and nonroad sources).

We anticipate many uses of the 2020 National Emissions Inventory including air quality modeling and other analyses to help scientists understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on air quality.  As such, we plan to ensure not only accurate annual total emissions, but also representative temporal patterns related to changes in economic activity including work and driving patterns during the response to the outbreak.  In addition, the 2020 NEI is used for many other emissions products that need 2020 data, such as emissions trends and international reporting requirements.  We are considering how to best take input on the 2020 NEI process and data given these unusual circumstances.