Developing Odor Control Regulations: Guidelines and Considerations

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Abstract
The TT-4 Committee developed a position paper on odor control regulations. Present odor regulatory approaches are considered generally to be unsatisfactory. There are two basic needs: 1. develop sound administrative procedures for establishing the existence of a community odor nuisance, and 2. obtain reliable odor sensory data that can be related to community acceptance or annoyance of a particular odor. Specific issues regarding administrative procedures for odor regulations are presented. These include establishing the validity of odor complaints and the existence of a community odor nuisance, based upon a specified number of valid complaints being received within a fixed time period. The existence of a community odor nuisance should be established before a compliance program is applied to an odor source. Technological needs for odor regulations are discussed. These include the development and testing of improved odor sensory measurement techniques, critical evaluation of atmospheric dispersion models to predict ambient odor concentration and relating ambient odors to annoyance thresholds for different communities or zoned areas. A suggested approach to odor control regulations is detailed. Specific procedures are provided for validating complaints, for establishing the existence of a community odor nuisance, for locating the alleged source (s) causing the odor problem and applying a compliance program to the source.

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