A REVIEW OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ODOR POLICY, ODOR MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Prepared By: SRF Consulting Group, Inc. One Carlson Parkway North, Suite 150 Minneapolis, MN 55447-4443 Phone: 763-475-0010 Fax: 763-475-2429 February 6, 2004 SRF No. 0034734 A REVIEW OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ODOR POLICY, ODOR MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION INDEX PAGE 1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Odors and Their Effects................................................................................. 1 1.2 Odor Investigation......................................................................................... 2 1.3 Report Organization....................................................................................... 2 2.0 A Primer on Odor....................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Odor Measurement......................................................................................... 5 2.2 Odor Source Types ........................................................................................ 9 3.0 Current Odor Regulation in Minnesota...................................................................... 14 3.1 Federal Regulation of Commercial, Industrial, Municipal Odorous Emissions 15 3.2 State Regulation of CIM Odorous Emissions................................................ 15 3.3 Regulations of Odorous Emissions from Animal Feeding Operations.......... 16 3.4 Minnesota Environmental Review................................................................. 20 4.0 Odor Issues in Minnesota........................................................................................... 21 4.1 MPCA Odor Complaint Database ................................................................. 22 4.2 Odor Staff-Identified Odor Issues.................................................................. 26 4.3 Odor Complaint Case Studies........................................................................ 28 4.4 Survey of Minnesota Counties on Nuisance Odor Impacts........................... 31 5.0 Odor Regulatory Approaches .................................................................................... 35 5.1 The Odor Regulatory Framework.................................................................. 35 5.2 Odor Regulatory Tools .................................................................................. 38 5.3 State of the Regulatory Practice..................................................................... 41 6.0 A Model Odor Regulatory Framework...................................................................... 54 6.1 Permitting/Environmental Review................................................................. 55 6.2 Compliance and Enforcement........................................................................ 60 7.0 Statewide Odor Policy Decision Making Matrix....................................................... 68 7.1 Emission Source Category ............................................................................ 69 7.2 Decision Elements ......................................................................................... 69 7.3 Decision Outcomes and Alternatives............................................................. 78 APPENDICES Appendix A: Literature Review Appendix B: MPCA County Survey on Odor Issues Appendix B1: Responding Counties Appendix B2: Summary of Responses Appendix B3: Responses by MPCA Region Appendix B4: Summary of Counties with High Complaints Appendix C: Odor Interviews Appendix C1: Contact List Appendix C2: Discussion Guide Appendix C3: Interview Notes Appendix C4: Summary Table of State and National Regulatory Findings Appendix D: Technical Memorandum on Odor Measurement Technology A REVIEW OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ODOR POLICY, ODOR MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 2/10/2004 i 1.0 INTRODUCTION This report was prepared at the direction of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Its purpose is to present the current state of the practice in odor regulation in the United States and selected countries around the world, review the regulatory need in Minnesota, the rest of the country and internationally, as well as the state of the science, and present a regulatory framework or policy that could be implemented in Minnesota. Section One provides an overview of odor and its effects as well as an outline to this document. Section Two is a primer on odor measurement and source type. Section Three is a discussion of odor regulation in Minnesota which includes permitting and environmental review activities. Section Four is dedicated to odor issues in Minnesota and features the results of the county odor survey. Section Five provides a review of various odor regulatory methods with Section Six illustrating a model odor regulatory framework. Section Seven is the decision matrix which includes the elements of odor regulation and program management, including the science and technology regarding measurement that can be used to determine a direction on odor policy for the MPCA. 1.1 Odors and their Effects Odors are defined as sensations that occur when chemical substances (called odorants) stimulate receptors in the nasal cavity (McGinley, 2000). Most odors perceived in the environment are made up of a multifaceted mixture of odorants. The compounds that make up particular odors are often present in small concentrations and can act in the human nose in a complex effect making their regulation by the setting of emissions limits (as is standard for other ambient air pollutants) complicated. The effects of odors are equally complicated and range from the associative and the psychological to the measurable and the physiological. From an evolutionary perspective, the sense of smell developed to help animals assess their environment. A particular odor may elicit various behaviors, from the attraction to a potential meal, to a warning of present danger or potential sickness. The sense of smell and memory appear to be closely tied together. Odor-evoked memories may seem clearer or more intense than other memories because they appear to be more emotional than memories triggered by visual, audio or other types of cues, (Herz, 1998). While odors don’t help people recall more information, the memories they evoke are more emotionally laden. A common example of this emotionally associative experience occurs when we sense a particular smell triggering vivid memories of experiences that happened long ago. These associative and emotional characteristics of the sense of smell may be important in the field of odor regulation because negative associations to odors, once formed, seem to be difficult to change. For instance, a neighborhood may develop a negative association to a particular odor during a period of intense odorous emissions. This negative association may be maintained even after odors are substantially and measurably reduced. Potentially negative human health effects may be experienced by people due to exposure to odorous emissions, and a link exists between noxious odors emanating from manures and biosolids and health symptoms (Schiffman et. al, 2000). The most frequently reported health A REVIEW OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ODOR POLICY, ODOR MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 2/10/2004 Page 1 effects of odors are described as eye, nose, and throat irritation, headache, nausea, diarrhea, hoarseness, sore throat, cough, chest tightness, nasal congestion, palpitations, shortness of breath, stress, drowsiness, and alterations in mood. 1.2 Odor Investigation Activities In order to comprehend the current range of odor issues in Minnesota, and the current regulatory environment as well as the field of odor measurement technology, the MPCA began this odor investigation process. This project was initiated in early March 2003 and concluded June 30, 2003. Project oversight was provided by three staff persons from the MPCA working with their consultants, SRF Consulting Group, Inc. and St. Croix Sensory, Inc. Work tasks completed as and documented in this report included the following: • Reviewing selected literature on odor measurement and regulation (see literature source list in Appendix A); • Conducting a mail survey to request input on odor problems and regulation from all Minnesota Counties; • Meeting with key staff from three groups of the MPCA (permitting, compliance and environmental review) staff; • Meeting with University of Minnesota College of Agriculture professors and engineers; • Conducting over 30 phone interviews with personnel involved in odor regulation in Minnesota, in other states around the country and other countries. • A technical evaluation of odor measurement techniques was prepared by St. Croix Sensory, Inc. concurrent with this investigation and is included as Appendix D of this report. 1.3 Report Organization This report is organized into seven chapters: 1. Introduction: This chapter describes the study process, work tasks and introduces the concept of odor and its effects. 2. A Primer on Odor: This chapter will orient the reader to basic technical terms used throughout the report. It also presents an overview of current and emerging odor measurement techniques, including those based on sensory measurements (i.e., relying on the human experience of odor), and chemical analysis techniques, in which certain chemicals are identified