Odor nuisances prohibited.
Las Vegas Municipal Code § 9.40.020
in effect9.40.020 - Odor nuisances prohibited.
(A) Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, no person shall cause or knowingly allow to be caused an odor nuisance.
(B) When a complaint regarding an odor episode is received, an authorized official may contact the complainant, gather specific information regarding the odor episode, and conduct an investigation accordingly. An authorized official may also conduct an investigation in a case where he or she independently perceives the existence of odor that might constitute an odor nuisance. As part of the investigation, the official may attempt to identify and quantify the odor intensity using an olfactometer and may also define or describe the hedonic tone of the odor associated with the odor episode.
(C) As an alternative to, or in advance of, formal enforcement proceedings, an authorized official may work with an owner, operator or other person responsible for an odor episode to mitigate the odor.
(D) An authorized official may process an odor episode as a public nuisance under Chapter 9.04 if, on a parcel adjacent to or nearby the parcel that is the source of the odor, an objective measurement is made as follows:
(1) The ambient odor has a persistent odor intensity measured at 7 DT or greater and measured as such at least three times in a forty-eight hour time period; or
(2) The existence of hydrogen sulfide or ammonia is measured as follows:
(a) Hydrogen sulfide: One hundred ppbv (instantaneous), thirty ppbv (thirty-minute average), ten ppbv (one hour average); or
(b) Ammonia: Ten ppmv (instantaneous), three ppmv (thirty-minute average), one ppbv (one hour average).
(E) An objective measurement that qualifies under Subsection (D) shall be based on appropriate technology, including without limitation the use of olfactometers, instruments that measure the presence of specific chemicals or odorants (such as color-changing tubes and Jerome analyzers), and air monitoring equipment for compounds emitted into the air. An objective measurement that qualifies under Subsection (D) presumptively establishes the existence of an odor nuisance under this Chapter and Chapter 9.04. The presumption may be rebutted in connection with an appeal hearing or judicial proceeding regarding the odor nuisance.
(F) If multiple complaints are made regarding the same odor episode, but a presumptive odor nuisance cannot be established under the objective criteria described in Subsection (D) above, an authorized official may contact an owner, operator or other person responsible for the odor to discuss odor mitigation measures to eliminate or reduce the ambient odor.
(Ord. No. 6570, § 2, 3-15-17)
Source: City of Las Vegas, Municipal Code and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/nv/las_vegas/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT9HESA_CH9.40ODNU_9.40.020ODNUPRFetched: 10/28/2026