Preliminary analysis of odor legal solutions and study on their implementation possibilities in Poland

Abstract

The problem of odor nuisance requires undertaking legal means that aim towards implementation of regulations in order to improve the odor-related quality of air in selected areas in Poland. So far the works carried out in the country were concluded by drawing up ‘The guidelines for the bill on counteracting the odor nuisance’. However, as a result of completed social consultations in Poland, the Ministry of Environment, in 2015, resigned from implementing of so called anti-odor act. Currently, the legislature is taking steps which aim at undertaking specific actions in order to introduce solutions, which would directly regulate the issues of odors and the odor nuisance, to the national system. In the countries of the European Union, the issues related to odors are solved in diversified ways and the system still lacks of a uniform proposition, among others related to odor standards. In connection with the above, actions that are taken on a national level should fundamentally aim at developing national odor standards which would take into account the type / the kind of economic activity being a source of odor emission (e.g. clearly separated for existing objects and planned investments), at establishing a procedure and also legal and operational requirements related to determination and the types of zones with defined values of acceptable concentration and determination of reference methodology in monitoring, and modeling the dispersion of odors e.g. including strictly defined frequency of necessary tests. In addition, the process should be accompanied by a creation of financial mechanisms and streams in range of investments related to the development of technology and methods used to limit emission of odors.

Air quality and odour evaluation on terrains characterized by a complicated odour emission profiles

“…The EU odour regulations that are in effect determine diversely the criteria and acceptable values, mainly in odour emission(ouE/s), odour concentration(ouE/m 3 ), as well as the methods, reference models and techniques of controlling and preventing odour nuisance [1][2]. This fact implies that not uniform solutions are applied in the EU, apart from the dynamic olfactometry methods defined in Poland by regulations in the PN-EN 13725:2007 norm [3].…”

“…The research carried out as a part of measurements and analyses concerning OIC (odour impact criteria) includes, among other things, determining the concentration of odour (C), the intensity of the odour (I), the character of the odour (C), the offensiveness of the odour (O) and the persistence of the odour (P), which is what the so called CICOP stands for, and allow using criteria comprised of: frequency of the odour exposure (F), intensity of the odour (I), duration of exposure to the odour (D), offensiveness of the odour (O), tolerance and expectation of the exposed subjects (location -L) -the so called FIDOL [1][2] [6][7]. Therefore, diversified research method can be used to determine the 'characteristics' of the odour air quality, the scale and the range od of odour impact and odour nuisance, and if there are several odour emission sources of different character in Polish conditions, a field and sociological study is especially preferred [8][9], for simultaneously applying both of them makes it possible to identify and determine the share of individual odour emission sources in shaping the odour air quality.…”