Green Glossary – N - 1-800-Recycling

Green Glossary – N

NAIC Code: North American Industrial Classification (NAIC) codes are a system of numerical codes that categorize industrial facilities by the type of activity in which they are engaged. All companies conducting the same type of business, regardless of their size, have the same NAIC code.
Nanotechnology: A field of study involving tiny, nano scale substances no bigger than 100 nanometers which are used for optical, magnetic, electrical and other types of products.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards or NAAQS: Under the US Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards to identify pollutants that can harm human health and the environment.
National Contingency Plan or NCP: A plan designed to ensure that resources and expertise of the US federal government will be available in the event of serious oil spills and hazardous substance releases.
National Environmental Policy or NEPA: A US environmental law enacted to promote environmental sustainability and also establish the President's Council on Environmental Quality.
National Estuary Program: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the National Estuary Program to protect and improve the state of estuaries of national importance.
National Footprint Accounts: The central data-set that calculates the footprints and biocapacities of the world, encompassing roughly 150 nations from 1961 to the present.
National Green Building Standard: A set of criteria that is used to asses the design, construction and renovation of residential buildings considering their environmental impact and sustainability.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH: The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is a federal agency that conducts research on occupational safety and health issues in order to make recommendations to the federal government about improving work environments.
National Institute of Environmental Health Services or NIEHS: A division of the US National Institutes of Health, the NIEHS focuses their research on environmental factors that affect human health, particularly those that contribute to disease.
National Marine Sanctuary Act or NMSA: Legislation designed to identify, designate, and manage areas of the marine environment that are of special national significance due to their conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, scientific, educational, or aesthetic qualities.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA: A scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and atmosphere.
National Parks: National parks are protected natural areas that can only be used for human recreation and enjoyment, restricted from development or any form of environmental degradation.
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES): A provision of the Clean Water Act which prohibits discharge of pollutants into waters of the United States unless a special permit is issued by EPA, a state, or, where delegated, a tribal government on an Indian reservation.
National Pollutant Release Inventory or NPRI: Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory compiles data on chemical substances released as pollutants by industrial facilities.
National Priorities List or NPL: The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) list of hazardous waste sites eligible for long-term environmental clean-up under the federal Superfund program.
National Response Center or NRC: An organization staffed by officers and marine science technicians from the U.S. Coast Guard that serves as the national communications center responsible for notifying On-Scene Coordinators in the case of oil spill remediation.
National Response System or NRS: A network of individuals and teams from local, state, and federal agencies who combine their expertise and resources to ensure that oil spill control and cleanup activities are timely and efficient and minimize threats to human health and the environment.
National Response Team or NRT: An organization composed of 16 federal agencies, each of which has responsibilities and expertise in responding to oil spill and hazardous materials emergencies.
National Toxicology Program or NTP: A division of the US Department of Health and Human Services that is in charge of evaluating the safety of chemicals, mixtures and substances used in all commercial products.
National Wildlife Refuge System: An conservation system managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service that oversees the protection of public lands and waters which are under special protection to conserve fish, wildlife and plants in North America.
Native Species: An organism or species is considered native to a given ecosystem if that ecosystem is its natural birth environment and not brought there by human intervention.
Natural Capital: Capital that includes all of the raw materials and natural cycles on earth. Footprint analysis considers one key component, life supporting natural capital, or ecological capital.
Natural Gas: A combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases that is shapeless and odorless in its pure form.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment or NRDA: Investigation performed by trustees to identify and plan the restoration of natural resources injured by oil spills and hazardous substance releases.
Natural Resource Defense Council or NRDC: An environmental action group founded in 1970 and based in New York, USA with other offices in Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.
Natural Resource Services: Ecological and human services provided by natural resources that may be injured after an oil spill or hazardous substance release.
Nature Conservancy: A US-based nonprofit organization that works all over the the world to protect ecologically valuable land and water areas.
Navigable Waters: Traditionally, waters sufficiently deep and wide for navigation by all, or specified vessels.
Necrosis: Death of plant or animal cells or tissues. In plants, necrosis can discolor stems or leaves or kill a plant entirely.
Net Energy Balance: The difference between the energy produced (usually by a type of fuel) and the energy it takes to produce it.
New Urbanism: Land use design principles that emphasize characteristics of traditional European towns with compact layouts, walkable downtown districts and a transit-oriented design that lowers the dependence on cars.
Newsprint: Low-grade paper made of ground wood which is often used for printing newspapers, flyers and other printed materials intended for mass distribution.
Nitrates: An inorganic form or nitrogen which is also an important plant nutrient and inorganic fertilizer.
Nitrogen: The most abundant gas in the atmosphere, making up 78 percent of it. Conversion of nitrogen to water-soluble forms such as ammonia and nitrates is called nitrogen fixation.
Nitrogen Leaching: A detrimental environmental effect and a type of pollution resulting from the application of nitrogen fertilizers on plants.
Nitrogen Oxides or NOx: The generic term for various nitrogen emissions produced during combustion. Nitrogen oxides reportedly worsen asthma, react with oxygen in the air to produce ozone--which is also an irritant and pollutant.
Nitrous Oxide or N20: Among the basket of gases considered to be a contributor to global warming, nitrous oxide (N2O) accounts for about 6 percent of the heating effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
No Till: Planting crops without prior seedbed preparation, into an existing cover crop, sod, or crop residues, and eliminating subsequent tillage operations.
Noise Pollution: Though noise pollution is not often trumpeted as a major environmental concern, it still poses serious health problems. Studies show that sleep disorders, hearing loss, high blood pressure and anxiety can be caused by noise pollution.
Non Renewable Resources: Energy sources that are used and consumed faster than they are produced by nature. Resources such as coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels take hundreds of years to form. Crude oil takes millions of years.
Non-Attainment Cities: Areas of the United States that do not meet minimum standards for air quality.
Non-Hazardous Solid Waste: Waste, regardless of origin, that might normally be disposed of in a non-secure manner, such as at a sanitary landfill site, if not incinerated.
Non-Native Species: A species or organism living in a habitat that is not its own--or that lives outside its native, natural living area.
Non-Point Sources: Diffuse pollution sources (i.e. without a single point of origin or not introduced into a receiving stream from a specific outlet).
Non-Potable Water: Water that is unsafe or unpalatable to drink because it contains pollutants, contaminants, minerals, or infective agents.
Nonpoint Source Pollution: Nonpoint source pollution is pollution spread to wider areas away from the direct source, usually as a result of surface runoff.
NOx Budget Program: A cap-and-trade program meant to help control nitrogen oxide emissions, to achieve additional reductions during the ozone season in parts of the United States.
NPRI Chemicals: A list of substances included in Canada's National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI). In general, NPRI chemicals can be reasonably expected to cause acute or chronic adverse human health effects, or adverse environmental effects.
NPRI Facilities: Facilities required to report their environmental releases and off-site transfers of substances that belong to the list of toxic chemicals in the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI).
Nuclear Disarmament: The movement to eradicate all forms of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction all over the world.
Nuclear Footprint: The footprint data on electricity generated by nuclear power. Before 2008, nuclear power was treated as equivalent, per kilowatt, to the world average footprint of fossil-fuel derived electricity. As of the 2008 edition, this footprint component is no longer included in national calculations and is calculated separately.
Nuclear Power: A source of electrical energy derived from creating controlled nuclear reactions.
Nuclear Reactor: A device that produces a continuous supply of heat energy from controlled radioactivity.
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: A 1963 treaty prohibiting the testing of nuclear weapons in any part of the world--up to the atmosphere, the oceans and space.
Nuclear Waste: A type of radioactive waste that is a by-product of the nuclear fuel cycle--processes that are needed to produce nuclear fission or the splitting of the atom.
Nurdles: Tiny pre-production plastic resin pellets, major component of marine plastic pollution
Nutrient Water Pollution: An imbalance in the natural nutrient content of water. Bodies of water naturally contain nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen which are essential to plant growth. Fertilizers contain excess nutrients and when these enter the water supply, perhaps due to water running off a field into a river, the nutrients cause an imbalance in the make up of the water.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH: A US Federal Agency that conducts research on occupational safety and public health issues. The agency is also tasked to come up with recommendations for the government to implement standards for healthy workplace environments.