Something smells – Metro Vancouver’s Attempt to Regulate Cannabis Odour Threatens B.C.’s Agriculture Sector
METRO VANCOUVER ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE ODOUR FROM Agriculture
For most people, the term ‘volatile organic compounds’ (VOCs) conjures images of vehicle exhaust, evaporating fuels and solvents. But in 2018, Metro Vancouver – in its bizarre attempt to regulate odours that naturally occur from cultivating cannabis – approved the Odour Management Policy Development Plan.
The regional government’s aim was to regulate the burgeoning cannabis sector separately from other agricultural products. This was a stark departure from Metro Vancouver’s approach to policy-making.
Conventional wisdom is that plants are good for the planet. They capture a sizeable portion of the world’s greenhouse gases improve air quality. So, what was really going? Turns out that Metro Vancouver wanted the power to regulate odour from farming activities broadly. But since there is no reliable way to regulate odour associated with the growing process, they attempted to take a blanket approach by targeting VOCs – something typically associated with chemicals.
VOC emissions from anthropogenic (human-made) sources are unquestionably an issue for human health. But the environmental impact from natural, biologic VOC sources, including agriculture, simply does not justify measurement. British Columbia’s farming community was understandably concerned that lumping the two together would lead to unnecessary red tape, and ultimately increased cost to local food production.
Metro Vancouver certainly has the authority to regulate air emissions (like VOCs), but it does not have the authority to regulate odour on agricultural lands. The Sustainable Food Alliance of BC engaged as a formal participant in Metro Vancouver’s odour management policy development process, and applied pressure on behalf of our members through a strategic media relations campaign.
We continue to push back on this policy that oversteps jurisdictional boundaries, and threatens to impact the province’s entire agricultural sector – not just cannabis growers.