Combined Air Emissions Reporting (CAER) streamlined environmental compliance for industry and governments

Various federal, state, local, and Tribal programs require industry to report information about air pollutant emissions to protect human health and the environment. Oftentimes, these programs require reporting to separate agencies and systems on different timelines and with varying levels of support for electronic reporting. 

While each program collects different data for distinct purposes, some information is common across programs and could be reported just once. In addition, some programs and agencies do not have resources to offer online reporting tools. Duplicative reporting requirements and inconsistent availability of online reporting can create inefficiencies and data quality issues for both industry and government. 

E-Enterprise provided a framework and resources to help agency partners collaborate on a Product Design Team that provided extensive input to build the CAERS platform. The PDT gathered requirements, identified immediate opportunities for improvement, and conducted research to clarify program requirements and identify opportunities to enhance data sharing and data collection. 

State, local, and Tribal agencies subscribed to use CAERS as a shared solution for industry to electronically report air emissions information. Industry in participating jurisdictions can use CAERS to electronically report the emission of criteria air pollutants and other agency-specific hazardous air pollutants included in the National Emissions Inventory.  

Participating agencies can retrieve industry-reported data via the CAERS application programming interface (API) for use in managing their air programs.

CAERS reduced redundancy in air emissions reporting and delivered efficient online reporting capabilities for agencies. The project produced benefits for a range of stakeholders: 

• The Regulated Community: CAERS delivered value for industry by reducing duplicative data entry, increasing reporting efficiency, and improving the user experience for reporters. 
• The Public: CAERS improved the availability, timeliness, transparency, consistency, and quality of air emissions information.
• The Regulators: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states, Tribes, and local governments could access more timely information and spend less effort reviewing, compiling, and reconciling data.

What’s next for CAERS?

U.S. EPA is building the Unified Platform—a comprehensive system that will consolidate regulatory, ambient, and emissions functionality, including CAERS. As this effort progresses, CAERS work is being aligned and transitioned to the Unified Platform.