A couple of days ago, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security of Italy published the national guidelines for monitoring and assessing industrial odour emissions. The Directorial Decree approving the Guidelines for the application of Article 272-bis of Legislative Decree 152/2006 on odorous emissions of plants and activities, was approved on the 18 June. This is the first step towards a more uniform application of good practices for monitoring and impact assessment of facilities and activities with potential odour impact.

   The Italian "Testo Unico in materia ambientale" is a law of the Italian Republic enacted by the Legislative Decree No 152 of 3 April 2006. This regulation of 172 pages and 318 articles has water, waste and air regulations chapters. Article 272 of this Legislative Decree has a couple of paragraphs with specific provisions for odour. There was a need for more developed guidelines. After years of development those have just been published.

   In January this year, the Ministry of the Environment of Chile submitted for public information the preliminary draft regulation on the emission of pollutants in fishmeal and fish oil plants and fish feed plants that, based on their odours, generate nuisance and constitute a risk to the quality of life of the population*. This would be the second odour regulation to be addressed in this country after the recent approval of the Law Regulating Odour Emission from the Pig Sector in February. But this is just one of the Ministry's many actions. In this post, we will review some initiatives being carried out by this organisation.

   Chile, perhaps with the exception of Germany, may be the only country in the world working effectively on odour impact management at a regulatory level. The Chilean Ministry of Environment has set out to end the free exhaust policy and improve air quality concerning this environmental vector. But what is this country doing to improve air quality for its citizens?