Little coffee roasters may get break from regulatory grind

A Sultan coffee-shop owner may win a reprieve for small Puget Sound-area coffee roasters who say they're burdened by tough air-quality regulations.

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, which governs limits on airborne pollution, including odors, is considering an exemption for coffee-shop owners with roasters that can't cook more than 10 pounds of beans at a time. The policy change would free them from needing expensive emission-control equipment.

The agency's board will meet Thursday to discuss and possibly vote on the proposal.

Under the current policy, all coffee roasters must use an afterburner, a heater that burns up smoke and odors so they aren't released into the atmosphere. But that equipment can be costly for small-time roasters, as Michael Jemmett, the owner of Vinaccio Coffee in Sultan, found out.

For nearly 2 ½ years, Jemmett had operated a small roaster at his coffee shop unaware of the need for a permit and special equipment. Last summer, an agency inspector visited the shop and informed Jemmett that he wasn't complying with air-quality regulations.

Jemmett said he was told he would have to shut down his roaster unless he installed the equipment.

When Jemmett researched the equipment, its installation and the fuel to run the machine, he came up with a price tag close to $15,000.

"I went to [Sultan] Mayor Ben Tolson, and we visited the agency together," Jemmett said. "But they weren't budging."

Coffee roasters have long been a source of complaints to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, said Jim Nolan, the agency's compliance director. Typically, coffee shops are close to other businesses or homes of residents that don't like the smoke emitted from roasters or the burned-toast smell of roasting coffee beans.

"So our policy has always been that even the small ones need an emission-control system to prevent nuisances," Nolan said. "But the question came up, 'Does it make sense to have small owners take such measures?' So our board has been discussing other options."

State Reps. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, and Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, have complained to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency that the costs deter businesses from starting.

County Councilman Jeff Sax, who sits on the agency's board and represents the district where Vinaccio Coffee is located, said there has been enough concern raised that the board likely will change its policy.

"We keep saying that we want to do what we can to keep small business alive, but then we load them up with all these regulations," Sax said.

At the Red Twig cafe in Edmonds, a reprieve would come a year too late. A complaint led the clean-air agency to require that owners Scott and Cindy Abrahamson, who roast about 25 pounds of coffee a week, install an afterburner.

"For us, it was a $4,000 [initial] expense," Cindy Abrahamson said. "I understand the roaster does emit a certain amount of smoke and odor, but it seems an unfair burden to small roasters."

If the policy is changed, exempt roasters still will need to register with the clean-air agency at a cost of about $1,300 initially and $800 annually thereafter.

Jemmett, who roasts about 100 pounds of coffee each week, is waiting for the clean-air agency to reach a decision. If the board decides to retain the current regulations, Nolan said, the agency will work with Jemmett on a schedule to get the emission controls installed. Typically, that's 180 days.

Jemmett said he'd comply, but he's amazed at how the issue has grown.

"This has turned out to be something much larger than I ever expected," he said.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com