Bill Text: CA AB746 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Secondhand smoke.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB746 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB746-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 746 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 6, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Levine
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 118960) to
Chapter 4 of Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to smoking.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 746, as amended, Levine. Smoking: prohibition in
multifamily dwellings. Secondhand smoke.
Existing law regulates the smoking of tobacco in various public
places, prohibits the smoking of tobacco in a private residence that
is licensed as a family day care home during its hours of operation
and in those areas of the facility where children are present, and
authorizes a landlord to prohibit the smoking of tobacco in the
building or on the property.
This bill would prohibit the smoking of a cigarette or other
tobacco products in all areas of multifamily dwellings, except those
areas designated as areas where smoking is permitted, as specified.
This bill would define, for the purposes of these provisions,
multifamily dwellings to mean residential property containing 2 or
more units with one or more shared walls, floors, ceilings, or
ventilation systems. This bill would provide that any person who
violates the requirements of the bill is guilty of an infraction,
punishable as specified. The bill would require the State Department
of Public Health to develop, implement, and publicize a smoking
cessation awareness and educational program, including a description
of the penalties that shall be imposed for a violation of the bill's
provisions. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
This bill would provide that as a matter of state policy, every
person in the State of California has the right to a 100% smoke-free
home by 2030. The bill would also make related findings and
declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: yes
no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 4 (commencing with Section 118960) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
Article 4. Smoking in Multifamily Dwellings
Secondhand Smoke
118960. (a) The smoking of a cigarette, as defined in Section
104556, or other tobacco product is prohibited in the units and all
other areas of new and existing multifamily dwellings, except those
areas that have been designated pursuant to subdivision (c) as areas
where smoking is permitted.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "multifamily dwelling" means
residential property containing two or more units with one or more
shared walls, floors, ceilings, or ventilation systems.
(c) The landlord, property manager, building owner, homeowners'
association, or other equivalent authority may designate an outdoor
area where smoking is permitted if the area meets all of the
following criteria:
(1) The area is located at least 20 feet from any unit or enclosed
area where smoking is prohibited.
(2) The area does not include, and is at least 100 feet from,
unenclosed areas primarily used by children and unenclosed areas with
improvements that facilitate physical activity including
playgrounds, swimming pools, and school campuses.
(3) The area includes no more than 10 percent of the total
enclosed area of the multifamily dwelling for which it is designated.
(4) The area has a clearly marked perimeter and is identified by
conspicuous signs.
(5) The area is completely within a confined area.
(6) The area does not overlap with any enclosed or unenclosed area
in which smoking is otherwise prohibited.
(d) On and after January 1, 2015, any person who violates this
section is guilty of an infraction and shall be punished as follows:
(1) For a first offense, by being informed, in writing, that
smoking in the unit or enclosed area is a violation of this section.
(2) For a second offense, by a fine not to exceed one hundred
dollars ($100) for each violation, or by enrollment in a smoking
cessation program offered through the State Department of Public
Health.
(3) For a third offense, by a fine not to exceed two hundred
dollars ($200).
(e) This section shall not preempt a city or county from enacting
or enforcing an ordinance relating to smoking in multifamily
dwellings if the ordinance is more stringent than this section.
(f) The State Department of Public Health shall develop,
implement, and publicize a smoking cessation awareness and
educational program, including a description of the penalties that
shall be imposed for a violation of this section.
118960. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The Surgeon General of the United States has found that there
is no risk-free level of contact with secondhand smoke.
(2) The State Air Resources Board has classified secondhand smoke
as a toxic air contaminant.
(3) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
estimates that secondhand smoke causes 50,000 premature deaths
annually. In infants and children, secondhand smoke exposure can
cause severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections,
and sudden infant death syndrome. Secondhand smoke can both cause and
worsen respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD). Adults with COPD are particularly at risk
when exposed to secondhand smoke, often developing a worsening of
COPD symptoms, including increased shortness of breath, cough, and
mucus production. Secondhand tobacco smoke kills more people than all
the other carcinogens currently regulated by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency combined, including asbestos,
arsenic, benzene, radon, and radionuclides.
(4) In December 2012, the CDC published a study in the Journal of
Nicotine and Tobacco that estimated that 4.6 to 4.9 million
Californians are exposed to secondhand smoke in their multiunit
housing homes against their wishes.
(5) In April 2013, a study published in the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine concluded that efforts to prohibit smoking in all
subsidized housing would protect health and generate substantial
cost savings to society.
(6) Lighted tobacco is the leading cause of residential fire
deaths. Of residential fire deaths from tobacco, one-in-four
fatalities was not the smoker.
(7) According to the CDC, secondhand smoke exposure tends to be
high for persons with low incomes. Sixty and one-half percent of
people living below the poverty level in the United States are
exposed to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke exposure also
disproportionally affects non-Hispanic black Americans with over 55
percent facing exposure.
(8) According to the State Department of Public Health, over 90
percent of all people agree that any exposure to secondhand smoke can
harm the health of babies and children, and over 75 percent of
smokers recognize that inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette
causes lung cancer.
(9) Multiple studies show that secondhand smoke can move through
air ducts, wall and floor cracks, elevator shafts, and along crawl
spaces to contaminate apartments on other floors, including those
that are far from the smoke. Secondhand smoke cannot be controlled
with ventilation, air cleaning, or by separating smokers from
nonsmokers.
(b) As a matter of state policy, every person in the State of
California has the right to a 100 percent smoke-free home by 2030.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
