The paper describes the past activities and future plans of the Emission Inventory Improvement Program (EIIP) Area Source Committee, as discussed during the November 2, 1994 EIIP panel discussion session. The EIIP Area Source Committee will develop a set of preferred and alternate methods for estimating air emissions from area source categories. The Committee work will involve the evaluation of presently available methodologies and the determination of the best available method for each source category. Even though one method will be selected as the Preferred Method for each category, one or more alternate methods will also be specified. The alternate methods will be recommended for those inventory regions where the best method is impractical or too costly to employ. In making these determinations and recommendations, the Committee will consider the relative importance of the source category to air program needs, emphasizing first the categories important to ozone nonattainment problems (primarily sources of volatile organic compounds); second, important particulate matter source categories; and third, categories for which no methods are currently available. The ultimate goal of the Committee is to compile a document to be published by STAPPA/ALAPCO/EPA as a procedural reference document for use by all government agencies that are responsible for the preparation of area source emissions inventories. The primary customers for this effort are perceived to be the state and local agencies that must prepare emissions inventories to meet the State Implementation Plan requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.