05 LC 33
0617
House
Bill 426
By:
Representatives Reece of the
27th,
Cooper of the
41st,
Stephens of the
164th,
Buckner of the
130th,
Oliver of the
83rd,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to offenses against public health and morals, so as to enact the "Georgia
Smokefree Air Act of 2005"; to prohibit smoking in certain facilities and areas;
to provide for definitions; to provide for exceptions; to provide for posting of
signs; to provide for violations, penalties, and state and local government
enforcement and administration; to provide for construction; to provide that
this prohibition shall be cumulative to other general or local acts, rules, and
regulations; to repeal a former prohibition against smoking in public places; to
provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
This
Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia Smokefree Air Act of
2005."
SECTION
2.
Chapter
12 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to offenses
against public health and morals, is amended by adding a new Article 8 to read
as follows:
"ARTICLE
8
16-12-180.
As
used in this article, the term:
(1)
'Bar' means an establishment that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic
beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and in which the serving of
food is only incidental to the consumption of those beverages, including, but
not limited to, taverns, nightclubs, cocktail lounges, and
cabarets.
(2)
'Business' means a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation,
or other business entity formed for profit-making purposes, including retail
establishments where goods or services are sold as well as professional
corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering,
architectural, or other professional services are delivered.
(3)
'Employee' means a person who is employed by an employer in consideration for
direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, and a person who volunteers his or
her services for a nonprofit entity.
(4)
'Employer' means a person, business, partnership, association, corporation,
trust, or nonprofit entity that employs the services of one or more
individuals.
(5)
'Enclosed area' means all space between a floor and ceiling that is enclosed on
all sides by solid walls or windows, exclusive of doorways, which extend from
the floor to the ceiling.
(6)
'Health care facility' means an office or institution providing care or
treatment of diseases, whether physical, mental, or emotional, or other medical,
physiological, or psychological conditions, including, but not limited to,
hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals or other clinics, including weight control
clinics, nursing homes, homes for the aging or chronically ill, laboratories,
and offices of surgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, physicians,
dentists, and all specialists within these professions. This definition shall
include all waiting rooms, hallways, private rooms, semiprivate rooms, and wards
within health care facilities.
(7)
'Local governing authority' means a county or municipal corporation of the
state.
(8)
'Place of employment' means an area under the control of a public or private
employer that employees normally frequent during the course of employment,
including, but not limited to, work areas, employee lounges, restrooms,
conference rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, employee cafeterias, hallways, and
vehicles. A private residence is not a place of employment unless it is used as
a child care, adult day-care, or health care facility.
(9)
'Public place' means an enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which
the public is permitted, including, but not limited to, banks, bars, educational
facilities, health care facilities, laundromats, public transportation
facilities, reception areas, restaurants, retail food production and marketing
establishments, retail service establishments, retail stores, shopping malls,
sports arenas, theaters, and waiting rooms. A private residence is not a public
place unless it is used as a child care, adult day-care, or health care
facility.
(10)
'Restaurant' means an eating establishment, including, but not limited to,
coffee shops, cafeterias, sandwich stands, and private and public school
cafeterias, which gives or offers for sale food to the public, guests, or
employees, as well as kitchens and catering facilities in which food is prepared
on the premises for serving elsewhere. The term shall include a bar area within
the restaurant.
(11)
'Retail tobacco store' means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of
tobacco products and accessories and in which the sale of other products is
merely incidental.
(12)
'Service line' means an indoor line in which one or more persons are waiting for
or receiving service of any kind, whether or not the service involves the
exchange of money.
(13)
'Shopping mall' means an enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves to
connect retail or professional establishments.
(14)
'Smoking' means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar,
cigarette, pipe, weed, plant, or other combustible substance in any manner or in
any form.
(15)
'Sports arena' means sports pavilions, stadiums, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing
arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks, bowling alleys, and other similar
places where members of the general public assemble to engage in physical
exercise, participate in athletic competition, or witness sports or other
events.
16-12-181.
All
enclosed facilities of, including buildings and vehicles owned, leased, or
operated by, the State of Georgia, its agencies and authorities, and any
political subdivision of the state, including a county, municipal corporation,
or local board or authority created by general, local, or special Act of the
General Assembly or by ordinance or resolution of the governing body of a county
or municipal corporation individually or jointly with other political
subdivisions of the state, shall be subject to this article.
16-12-182.
Smoking
shall be prohibited in all enclosed public places in this state, including, but
not limited to, the following places:
(1)
Aquariums, galleries, libraries, and museums;
(2)
Areas available to and customarily used by the general public in businesses and
nonprofit entities patronized by the public, including, but not limited to,
professional offices, banks, laundromats, hotels, and motels;
(3)
Bars;
(4)
Bingo facilities when a bingo game is in progress;
(5)
Convention facilities;
(6)
Elevators;
(7)
Facilities primarily used for exhibiting a motion picture, stage, drama,
lecture, musical recital, or other similar performance;
(8)
Health care facilities;
(9)
Licensed child care and adult day-care facilities;
(10)
Lobbies, hallways, and other common areas in apartment buildings, condominiums,
trailer parks, retirement facilities, nursing homes, and other multiple-unit
residential facilities;
(11)
Polling places;
(12)
Public transportation facilities, including buses and taxicabs, and ticket,
boarding, and waiting areas of public transit depots;
(13)
Restaurants;
(14)
Restrooms, lobbies, reception areas, hallways, and other common use
areas;
(15)
Retail stores;
(16)
Rooms, chambers, and places of meeting or public assembly when a public meeting
is in progress;
(17)
Service lines;
(18)
Shopping malls; and
(19)
Sports arenas, including enclosed places in outdoor arenas.
16-12-183.
(a)
Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed areas within places of employment
without exception, including, but not limited to, common work areas,
auditoriums, classrooms, conference and meeting rooms, private offices,
elevators, hallways, medical facilities, cafeterias, employee lounges, stairs,
restrooms, vehicles, and all other enclosed facilities.
(b)
Such prohibition on smoking shall be communicated to all existing employees by
July 1, 2005, and to all prospective employees upon their application for
employment.
16-12-184.
Smoking
shall be prohibited within a reasonable distance of 25 feet, unless such area is
a public roadway or is property owned by another individual or entity, outside
an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited, so as to ensure that tobacco smoke
does not enter the area through entrances, windows, ventilation systems, or
other means.
16-12-185.
Notwithstanding
any other provision of this article, the following areas shall be exempt from
the provisions of Code Sections 16-12-182 and 16-12-183:
(1)
Private residences, except when used as a licensed child care, adult day-care,
or health care facility;
(2)
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 may be so designated;
(3)
Retail tobacco stores, provided that smoke from such stores does not infiltrate
into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this
article;
(4)
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;
(5)
Outdoor areas of places of employment except those covered by the provisions of
Code Section 16-12-184;
(6)
Smoking areas in international airports, as such areas are designated by the
airport operator;
(7)
Corporate offices of tobacco manufacturers; and
(8)
Private and semiprivate rooms in health care facilities that are occupied by one
or more persons, all of whom have written authorization by their treating
physician to smoke.
16-12-186.
Notwithstanding
any other provision of this article, an owner, operator, manager, or other
person in control of an establishment, facility, or outdoor area may declare
that entire establishment, facility, or outdoor area as a nonsmoking place.
Smoking shall be prohibited in any place in which a sign conforming to the
requirements of subsection (a) of Code Section 16-12-187 is posted.
16-12-187.
(a)
'No Smoking' signs or the international 'No Smoking' symbol consisting of a
pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a
red bar across it shall be clearly and conspicuously posted by the owner,
operator, manager, or other person in control in every public place and place of
employment where smoking is prohibited by this article.
(b)
Every public place and place of employment where smoking is prohibited by this
article shall have posted at every entrance a conspicuous sign clearly stating
that smoking is prohibited.
(c)
All ashtrays shall be removed from any area where smoking is prohibited by this
article by the owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of the
area.
16-12-188.
No
person or employer shall discharge, refuse to hire, or in any manner retaliate
against an employee, applicant for employment, or customer because that
employee, applicant, or customer exercises any rights afforded by this article
or attempts to prosecute a violation of this article.
16-12-189.
(a)
This article shall be enforced by the appropriate local agency or agencies
designated by each local governing authority in this state.
(b)
Each local governing authority in this state that issues occupation tax
certificates shall give notice of the provisions of this article to all
recipients of occupation tax certificates.
(c)
Any citizen who desires to register a complaint under this article may initiate
enforcement with the agency designated by a local governing authority for
enforcement.
(d)
The health department and fire department of any local governing authority
shall, while an establishment is undergoing otherwise mandated inspections,
inspect for compliance with this article.
(e)
An owner, manager, operator, or employee of an establishment regulated by this
article shall inform persons violating this article of the appropriate
provisions of this article.
(f)
Any employee or private citizen may bring a legal action to enforce this
article.
(g)
In addition to any other remedy provided by law, a local governing authority or
any person aggrieved by the failure of the owner, operator, or other person in
control of a public place or place of employment to comply with the provisions
of this article may apply for injunctive relief to enforce those provisions in
any court of competent jurisdiction.
16-12-190.
(a)
A person who smokes tobacco in any form in an area where smoking is prohibited
by the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50.00 nor more than
$100.00.
(b)
A person who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls a public place or
place of employment and who fails to comply with the provisions of this article
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as
follows:
(1)
For a first violation, a fine not exceeding $100.00;
(2)
For a second violation within one year, a fine not exceeding $200.00;
and
(3)
For each additional violation within one year, a fine not exceeding
$500.00.
(c)
In addition to the fines established by this Code section, violation of this
article by a person who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls a public
place or place of employment may result in the suspension or revocation of any
permit or license issued to the person for the premises on which the violation
occurred.
(d)
Each day on which a violation of this article occurs shall be considered a
separate and distinct violation.
16-12-191.
The
Department of Human Resources and the agency designated by each local governing
authority in this state shall engage in a continuing program to explain and
clarify the purposes and requirements of this article to citizens affected by it
and to guide owners, operators, and managers in their compliance with it. The
program may include publication of a brochure for affected businesses and
individuals explaining the provisions of this article.
16-12-192.
The
agency designated by each local governing authority in this state shall annually
request other governmental and educational agencies having facilities within the
area of the local government to establish local operating procedures in
cooperation and compliance with this article.
16-12-193.
This
article shall not be construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise
restricted by other applicable laws.
16-12-194.
This
article shall be cumulative to and shall not prohibit the enactment of any other
general or local laws, rules, and regulations of state or local governing
authorities or local ordinances prohibiting smoking which are more restrictive
than this article or are not in direct conflict with this article.
16-12-195.
This
article shall be liberally construed so as to further its
purposes."
SECTION
3.
Said
chapter is further amended by repealing Code Section 16-12-2, relating to
prohibited smoking in public places. This repeal shall not, however, abate the
prosecution of any offense committed prior to July 1, 2005.
SECTION
4.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.