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.
Highlights
In the countries of the European Union and generally in the world, the odors, which are the product of direct activity of a man and cause negative effects are commonly classified as contaminants and, throughout the world, are subjected to legal regulations
In such cases the odors are treated as contaminants, which released into the environment may cause a number of negative effects, among others, including: worsening of the quality of the natural environment, damages to property or to the world of plants and life of animals, discomfort;
By taking into account the influence of odors on the mental and emotional sphere, the odor nuisance is defined as a discomfort caused by odor emitting substances or circumstances related to a presence of odors, which may negatively influence a single person or a group of people
Summary
In the countries of the European Union and generally in the world, the odors, which are the product of direct activity of a man and cause negative effects are commonly classified as contaminants and, throughout the world, are subjected to legal regulations. Besides olfactory factors , the perception of an odor may be influenced by external factors, including: situations accompanying the higher concentrations of a odor (housing situation, the length of sleep, tiredness, the length of work in ‘odor-accompanied’ environment, the condition of the environment and spatial development in an area of odor nuisance presence (current level of odor, social and economic structure in the residential area, architecture) and odor-unrelated properties of the source of pollution (e.g. the level of noise, vibrations, concentration of particulate matter) Those factors – next to the concentration, hedonic quality, intensity and the time of exposure to a specific odor – in a significant way influence the individual perception of emitted odor and definition of the odor as a nuisance. The presented work aims at an analysis of the solutions used in legal systems of selected European Union countries in relation to issues of assessment of odor nuisances and at indication of initial possibility of their application in Poland, including determination of directions of actions aiming at introduction of complex solutions relating to laws regulating odor issues to the national legal system
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