South Carolina H 4557: Odor management

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4557 Text of Previous Version (May. 08, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4557

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING CHAPTER 
63 TO TITLE 48 ENTITLED "ODOR MANAGEMENT" SO AS TO DEFINE TERMS, ESTABLISH A 
PROCESS FOR VERIFIABLE ODOR COMPLAINTS, REQUIRE THE BUREAU CHIEF OF THE BUREAU 
OF AIR QUALITY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES TO INVESTIGATE 
COMPLAINTS IF CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET, TO REQUIRE A FACILITY OWNER TO 
DEVELOP AND SUBMIT AN ODOR MANAGEMENT PLAN, WHEN REQUIRED, AND TO PROVIDE 
EXEMPTIONS AND PENALTIES.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Title 48 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

CHAPTER 63

Odor Management

 Section 
48-63-10. For purposes of this chapter:

 (1) "Bureau" 
means the Bureau of Air Quality of the Department of Environmental Services.

 (2) 
"Objectionable odor" means pollution of the ambient air beyond the property 
line of a facility consisting of an odor that, considering its characteristics, 
intensity, frequency, and duration:

 (a) 
is, or can reasonably be expected to be, injurious to public health or welfare; 
or

 (b) 
unreasonably interferes with the enjoyment of life or the use of property of 
persons exposed to the odor.

 (3) 
"Odor complaint" means a notification received and recorded by the bureau or by 
a political subdivision, including a school district, from an identifiable 
person that describes the nature, duration, and location of the odor.

 Section 
48-63-20. No person may cause or allow emission into the ambient air of any 
substance or combination of substances in quantities that produce an 
objectionable odor beyond the property line of the facility that is the source 
of the odor.

 Section 
48-63-30. (A) The bureau must 
conduct a site investigation of any facility against which five or more 
verifiable odor complaints have been submitted to the bureau or to local 
government officials within forty-eight hours. The investigation must include:

 (1) 
an interview with the owner or operator of the facility against which the 
complaint was made;

 (2) 
a physical examination of the facilities, equipment, operations, conditions, 
methods, storage areas for material inputs, chemicals and waste, and any other 
factors that may contribute to or are designed to mitigate the emission of 
odors; and

 (3) 
testing at locations identified in the odor complaints and at other locations 
beyond the property line of the facility that is the source of the odor using a 
precision instrument capable of measuring odors in ambient air.

 (B) 
The bureau chief, based upon the bureau's site investigation and the results of 
odor testing and considering the nature, intensity, frequency, and duration of 
the odor and other relevant factors, must determine whether the odor emitted 
from the facility constitutes an objectionable odor. In making the 
determination, the bureau chief may consider the opinions of a random sample of 
persons exposed to samples of the odor taken from ambient air beyond the 
property line of the facility that is the source of the odor.

 (C) 
The bureau must notify officials in local jurisdictions:

 (1) 
of odor complaints filed with the bureau regarding properties within the local 
jurisdiction;

 (2) 
of any investigation of an odor complaint conducted by the bureau at a facility 
within the local jurisdiction and the results of the investigation;

 (3) 
that odor complaints filed with respect to properties located within those 
jurisdictions must be forwarded to the bureau within three business days of 
being filed; and

 (4) 
of any additional actions taken by the bureau with respect to the complaints.

 Section 
48-63-40. (A) If the bureau chief 
determines pursuant to Section 48-63-30(B) that the odor emitted from a 
facility is an objectionable odor, the bureau chief must require the owner of 
the facility to develop and submit to the bureau for review within ninety days 
an odor management plan designed to mitigate odor emissions. The bureau must 
provide technical assistance to the facility owner in development of a 
management plan including:

 (1) 
identifying odor control technology and equipment that may reduce odor 
emissions; and

 (2) 
identifying alternative methods of operation or alternative materials that may 
reduce odor emissions.

 (B) 
The bureau may grant an extension for submission of the odor management plan 
for up to an additional ninety days for good cause.

 (C) An 
odor management plan must contain, at a minimum, for each odor source 
contributing to odor emissions:

 (1) 
a description of plant operations and materials that generate odors;

 (2) 
proposed changes in equipment, operations, or materia