HB 1475 – AS INTRODUCED

2010 SESSION

10-2292

01/09

HOUSE BILL 1475

AN ACT relative to indoor smoking.

SPONSORS: Rep. Butynski, Ches 4; Rep. J. Day, Rock 13; Rep. DiPentima, Rock 16; Rep. Pilliod, Belk 5

COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs

ANALYSIS

This bill revises the indoor smoking act.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

10-2292

01/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten

AN ACT relative to indoor smoking.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Indoor Smoking Act; Purpose. Amend RSA 155:64 to read as follows:

155:64 Purpose. The purpose of this subdivision is to protect the health of the public by [regulating smoking] eliminating tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke in enclosed workplaces and enclosed places accessible to the public, regardless of whether publicly or privately owned[, and in enclosed publicly owned buildings and offices]. This subdivision also [regulates] eliminates smoking in public housing facilities, health care facilities, public primary and secondary educational facilities, and in public conveyances operating within the state. This subdivision shall not be construed as addressing [airborne] contaminants including toxic, chemical, or biological substances that may be present in indoor air other than tobacco smoke.

2 Indoor Smoking Act; Definitions. RSA 155:65 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

155:65 Definitions. In this subdivision:

I. “Cocktail lounge” means only that portion or specified area of a restaurant, hotel, motel, convention center or resort which is used primarily to serve liquor or other alcoholic beverages, irrespective of whether or not food is also served there.

II. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of the department of health and human services or designee.

III. “Department” means the department of health and human services.

IV. “Enclosed place” means a structurally enclosed location, or portion of such location, enclosed by a floor, ceiling, and 3 or 4 solid walls or partitions, including doors and windows.

V. “Enclosed workplace” means a structurally enclosed location or portion thereof at which employees perform services for the employer.

VI. “Health care facility” means any enclosed place or portion of such place used for the purpose of providing medical or dental treatment, physical or mental health services, or any combination of such treatment or services, including adult day care. This definition shall include buildings or portions of buildings used exclusively for such purposes and buildings or portions of buildings leased, rented, or otherwise made available for such purposes.

VII. “Law enforcement authority” means the state, county, city, or town police having authority over a given area in the state.

VIII. “Person in charge” means:

(a) Day to day responsibilities for enclosed places that are not publicly owned buildings or offices, the person who has responsibility for, directly or by appointment, policy making and overseeing adherence to laws, rules, and regulations of an enclosed place of public access or a workplace. This definition shall not mean the owner of the property or place of public access or workplace unless he is routinely present and controls the day-to-day activities, or sets the policy, carried out within the enclosed place.

(b) Day to day responsibilities for publicly owned buildings and offices, the person responsible for the operation of the building or office and the person responsible for the agency or organization occupying the building or office, or that person designated to act in the absence of the person in charge.

IX. “Public access” means any enclosed place of business, commerce, banking, financial service, or other service-related activity, whether publicly or privately owned and whether operated for profit or not, to which the general public has access or which the general public uses, including, but not limited to, buildings, offices, means of transportation, common carrier waiting rooms, arcades, restaurants, retail stores, grocery stores, libraries, theaters, concert halls, auditoriums, arenas, barber shops, hair salons, laundromats, shopping malls, museums, art galleries, sports and fitness facilities, planetariums, historical sites, and common areas of resorts, hotels, and motels, including the lobbies, hallways, elevators, restaurants, restrooms, and cafeterias.

X. “Public conveyance” means any air, land, or water vehicle of public access, which has enclosed sections, used for the transportation of persons in the state of New Hampshire, whether or not for compensation, including, but not limited to, airplanes, trains, buses, boats, vans, or taxis. This definition shall not include privately owned vehicles when used for private purposes, but shall include all vehicles owned by the state and its political subdivisions.

XI. “Public educational facility” means any enclosed place or portion of such place, which is supported by public funds and which is used for the instruction of students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12. This definition shall include areas within facilities supportive of instruction and subject to educational administration including, but not limited to, lounge areas, passageways, restrooms, laboratories, study areas, cafeterias, gymnasiums, libraries, maintenance rooms, and storage areas.

XII. “Publicly owned buildings and offices” means enclosed places or portions of such places owned, leased, or rented by state, county or municipal governments, or by agencies supported by appropriation of, or by contracts or grants from, funds derived from the collection of federal, state, county, or municipal taxes. This definition includes, but is not limited to, legislative offices, legislative meeting rooms, and other areas used by legislative bodies; courtrooms, jury rooms, and other court facilities; recreation facilities; police stations; fire stations; county, city, and town offices; penal and detention institutions; armories; military training facilities; public housing; subsidized housing; common waiting areas, lobbies, or common-use rooms; field offices of any government unit; and postsecondary educational institutions receiving funds appropriated by the state legislature. This definition also includes enclosed places periodically used by state, county, or municipal governments or their agencies, including, but not limited to, polling places and rooms in which a public meeting, hearing, or other proceeding open to the public is in progress. This definition shall also include, in accordance with federal laws and regulations, enclosed places and offices owned, leased, or rented by the federal government or agencies of the federal government.

XIII. “Restaurant” means any room or enclosed place used and kept open on a regular basis and in a bona fide manner for the serving of meals to guests for compensation. “Restaurant” shall include any such room or place in resorts, hotels, and motels.

XIV. “Smoking” means having in one’s possession a lighted cigarette, cigar, or pipe, or any device designed to produce the effect of smoking.

XV. “Workplace” means an enclosed place at which 4 or more individuals perform any type of a service for consideration of payment under any type or term of employment relationship with, but not limited to, a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, company, individual, governing body, government agency, private voluntary agency, and any public nonprofit agency. This definition also includes any enclosed place where 4 or more individuals perform services in a volunteer capacity for which individuals are ordinarily paid.

3 Indoor Smoking Act; Smoking Prohibited. RSA 155:66 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

155:66 Smoking Prohibited. Except as provided in RSA 155:67 and notwithstanding any law to the contrary, smoking is prohibited in:

I. Enclosed workplaces.

II. Public educational facilities at any time, and in child care agencies licensed under RSA 170-E during the hours of operation, except foster family homes and foster family group homes.

III. Hospitals and other acute care facilities.

IV. Grocery stores by customers.

V. Elevators, tramways, gondolas, and other such public conveyances.

VI. Public conveyances.

VII. Restaurants.

VIII. Cocktail lounges.

IX. Enclosed places owned and operated by social, fraternal, or religious organizations when open to the general public. Purposes for which such places may be open to the general public may include, but not be limited to, public meetings, voting, suppers, bingo games, theatrical events, fairs, and bazaars.

4 Exemptions. RSA 155:67 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

155:67 Exemptions. The following shall be exempted from the requirements of this subdivision:

I. Private residences.

II. Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are designated as smoking rooms; provided, however, that not more than 20 percent of rooms rented to guests in a hotel or motel shall be so designated. All smoking rooms on the same floor shall be contiguous and smoke from these rooms shall not infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this subdivision.

III. Retail tobacco stores.

IV. Private and semiprivate rooms in nursing homes and long-term care facilities that are occupied by one or more persons, all of whom are smokers and have requested in writing to be placed in a room where smoking is permitted.

V. Private clubs that have no employees, except when being used for a function to which the general public is invited.

VI. Outdoor areas of places of employment.

5 Indoor Smoking act; Written Policies. Amend RSA 155:68 to read as follows:

155:68 Written Policies. The person in charge of the enclosed places listed in RSA 155:66 shall develop, or oversee the development of, written policies in accordance with RSA 155:71, to achieve compliance with this subdivision. [Such policies shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

I. If smoking is completely prohibited in any enclosed workplace, enclosed place of public ownership, or enclosed place accessible to the public, then the written policy shall state that smoking is prohibited in the entire facility.

II. If smoking-permitted areas are to be designated in any enclosed area identified in RSA 155:66, then the written policy shall state, in addition to the requirements of RSA 155:69, that smoking is permitted only in designated smoking-permitted areas and shall specify the area or areas where smoking is permitted in the building or facility.

III. Written policies regarding smoking restrictions shall be provided to, or posted, or otherwise made available to any person who works in or routinely uses any enclosed building or facility.

IV. Staff or employees subject to written policies regarding smoking restrictions in any enclosed building or facility shall receive orientation regarding the written policy to which they are required to adhere.]

6 Indoor Smoking Act; Rulemaking. Amend RSA 155:71 to read as follows:

155:71 Rulemaking. The commissioner shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to:

I. [Criteria for smoking-permitted areas in a manner that effectively segregates areas, in accordance with RSA 155:65, V, where smoking may be permitted in the facilities under RSA 155:67, V, VI, VII, and X.

II.] Size and placement of appropriate signs to be used for notification of smoking restrictions.

[III.] II. Procedures for resolving complaints and investigations of complaints under RSA 155:73 and 74.

[IV. Procedures for requesting a waiver and eligibility determination for a waiver requested under RSA 155:75, and stipulations of a waiver, including time stipulation.]

[V.] III. Procedures to ensure confidentiality under RSA 155:74.

[VI.] IV. A schedule of administrative fines which may be imposed under RSA 155:78 for violation of this subdivision or the rules adopted pursuant to it.

[VII.] V. Procedures for notice prior to the imposition of an administrative fine imposed under RSA 155:78.

7 Indoor Smoking Act; Fire Protection, Safety and Sanitation. Amend RSA 155:77 to read as follows:

155:77 Fire Protection, Safety and Sanitation. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit smoking where smoking is prohibited by any other provision of law or rule relative to public health, fire protection, safety and sanitation.

8 Repeal. The following are repealed:

I. RSA 155:69, relative to smoking permitted areas.

II. RSA 155:75, relative to waiver.

9 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.