While standing on the property line of a licensed cannabis grower in a little more than one year’s time, a trained operator of a Nasal Ranger device will need to measure 4 or less D/T—dilution over threshold—for three minutes to determine whether the grower complies with the now amended cannabis ordinance.
Arriving at this number was not simple for the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors at its March 17 meeting. From confusion about how the measuring system works to disagreements over what seemed like a reasonable measurement, discussions were filled with technical explanations and differing views on how to effectively regulate cannabis odor.
The Nasal Ranger works by allowing a user to dilute ambient air to detect the strength of an odor, Erinn Briggs, deputy director of the county Energy, Minerals, and Compliance Division, explained to the Sun. The standard D/T ratios that the device uses include 2, 4, 7, 15, 30, and 60.
“Generally speaking, it’s really hard for folks to understand D/T without really spending a lot of time talking about it and learning about it,” Briggs said. “It’s a concept that we don’t think about every day.”
At the meeting, 1st District Supervisor Roy Lee, who represents Carpinteria, where locals have complained of persistent cannabis odors from indoor cultivation operations, expressed a desire for stricter regulations that stipulate 4 D/T being a violation. In response, County Director of Planning and Development Lisa Plowman explained that this would prove to be a major challenge for the department to enforce.
“Our consultants have told us that would be very difficult for us to even be able to detect,” she said. “It’s not a workable threshold for us. We can consistently pick up 7, but we can’t at 4. So, if you exceed 4, then we can pick it up.”
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino expressed concerns that strict regulations might affect a grower’s ability to comply and stay in business. However, after reviewing consultant data showing that only 14 out of 335 readings measured at 7 D/T, he said he felt reassured and agreed to move forward with the board.
Carpinteria resident Lorraine McIntire urged board members during public comment to consider sticking with a measurement of 7 D/T being a violation instead of 4 D/T as suggested by Supervisor Lee, noting that cannabis growers “are farmers, not criminals.”
“If this were garlic, would we be having this same level of discussion as we are having now with cannabis?” she questioned.
The board unanimously decided to establish an odor threshold in the Coastal Zone of 4 D/T, meaning that any grower maintaining less than 7 D/T is within compliance. Laura Capps, 2nd District supervisor, acknowledged that opinions on the Nasal Ranger vary but added that “it definitely seems as though it’s the technology we have, and it’s more accessible.”
The board also decided to mandate multi-technology carbon filtration (MTCF), phase out vapor phase systems, and implement a 12-month compliance period for cannabis odor abatement plans with one potential extension.
As part of the decision, the board agreed to define an MTCF as an “air filtration technology that utilizes activated carbon, which may include carbon filters, photocatalytic oxidation units, and/or other equivalent technologies that utilize carbon filtration.”
With this definition in place, and the decision to phase out vapor or misting phase systems, growers will need to implement MTCFs by March 31, 2026, to be in compliance with their odor abatement plans. One-year extensions may be granted for reasons like supply chain delays or problems upgrading on-site power supply, but failure to meet the deadline could put cannabis cultivation business licenses at risk.
During the meeting, Lavagnino asked how many growers would need to make changes to comply with the amendments to the plans. Planning and Development Department staff responded that approximately five to seven growers already have these systems in place, while about 15 to 20 would need to implement the new technologies.
Lavagnino told the Sun that even though he sided with the board on these changes, he still has reservations about the ordinance. He said he’s worried that without these efforts, though, community members and potentially other members of the board might make moves to shut the cannabis program down entirely.
“Honestly, I think we’ve over-regulated this industry to death,” he said. “I know there are people that will say that the ordinance gave [growers] free rein, basically, and that’s just utterly ridiculous. I mean, it’s just revisionist history.”
The board is set to receive a second reading of the amendments to the cannabis ordinance on April 1 to make final decisions.
Staff Writer Emma Montalbano can be reached at emontalbano@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 6, 2025.
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