The discharge of any contaminants into the air shall comply with the Air Quality section of the Regional Policy Statement and relevant sections of the Regional Air Plan, when drafted, the requirements of the Resource Management Act 1991 and the provisions of the Health Act 1956 relating to the control of nuisances.

5.5.1 Odour

The management of activities shall ensure that there is no odour nuisance at or beyond the boundary of the property.

For the purpose of this rule an odour nuisance is defined as one that can be detected and determined to be a nuisance by three observers who are neutral to the issue, able to apply the frequency, intensity, duration and offensiveness to their observations and who are able to report these accurately; or an appropriately experienced Council or Regional Council Officer after having considered objectives, policies and guidelines of assessment as provided in the relevant sections of a Regional Air Plan or consideration of the provisions in Section 17 and Part XII of the RMA.

5.5.2 Dust

Activities shall operate so as to ensure that dust generation is minimised. These activities shall be undertaken in a manner so as to avoid any adverse effects associated with dust and particulate emissions beyond the boundary of the site of emission

As a guide, activities that result in a deposition rate beyond the boundary of the subject property of 4 grams or less per m² per 30 day period may be considered to be at an acceptable level in terms of mitigating dust nuisance.

The reason that this is a guide in the Waikato Regional Plan for modelling to assess whether effects are objectionable, and is also a guide on the District Plan as opposed to a standard, is that what is acceptable will vary depending on the receiving environment and the background levels of deposited particulate matter already present.

In other instances (ie, where site characteristics differ) higher levels of deposition may be acceptable without resulting in objectionable effects or lower levels may be appropriate where for example background levels are low. Levels shall be determined on a site by site basis.

Deposition monitoring shall be undertaken in accordance with draft ISO Standard 4222.2.

Explanation

While responsibility for issuing air discharge permits and monitoring control of air emissions rests with the Regional Council, the District Council is concerned with health issues arising under Section 29 of the Health Act, 1956 and amenity values under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Compliance with the above rules is considered necessary to mitigate the nuisance effects of activities. Odour is a very subjective amenity value and the degree of tolerance often varies considerably between different people exposed to the odour. Flexibility is therefore required in terms of mitigation and in general the onus is on the operator to mitigate effects rather than specifying complex standards which may not be appropriate or sufficiently flexible or may result in expensive or unnecessary mitigation costs.

Dust nuisance generally arises from either the use of outside areas that are notfinished in an appropriate surface as required by Rule 9.1.2(v), or from inappropriate operating practices. The onus is on the operators to ensure that the activity does not result in a dust nuisance. The 4 grams per square metre per 30 days can only be used as a guide for assessment purposes rather than a means for assessing whether an activity is causing an adverse effect. This is because this method cannot distinguish between contributions from various sources or reflect peak emission episodes.

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