Columbus, Georgia

An Ordinance

NO. 13-xx



An ordinance repealing Article I, Section 13-01 entitled ?Smoking in buildings

owned by consolidated government? and adopting a new Section containing

regulations for prohibiting smoking in all public places and all public and

private places of employment in Columbus, Georgia.



Sec. 1000. Clean Indoor Air Ordinance

This Article shall be known as the Columbus Consolidated Government Smoke free

Air Act of 2005.



Sec. 1001. Findings and Intent

The Columbus Consolidated Government does hereby find that:

Numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor

air pollution, and that breathing secondhand smoke (also known as environmental

tobacco smoke) is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart

disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and lung cancer. The National Cancer

Institute determined in 1999 that secondhand smoke is responsible for the early

deaths of up to 65,000 Americans annually. (National Cancer Institute (NCI),

"Health effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke: the report of the

California Environmental Protection Agency. Smoking and Tobacco Control

Monograph 10," Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, National Cancer

Institute (NCI), August 1999.)

The Public Health Service's National Toxicology Program has listed secondhand

smoke as a known carcinogen. (Environmental Health Information Service (EHIS),

"Environmental tobacco smoke: first listed in the Ninth Report on Carcinogens,"

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Public Health Service,

National Toxicology Program, 2000.)

A study of hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction in Helena,

Montana before, during, and after a local law eliminating smoking in workplaces

and public places was in effect, has determined that laws to enforce smoke free

workplaces and public places may be associated with a reduction in morbidity

from heart disease. (Sargent, Richard P.; Shepard, Robert M.; Glantz, Stanton

A., "Reduced incidence of admissions for myocardial infarction associated with

public smoking ban: before and after study," British Medical Journal 328:

977-980, April 24, 2004.)

Secondhand smoke is particularly hazardous to elderly people, individuals with

cardiovascular disease, and individuals with impaired respiratory function,

including asthmatics and those with obstructive airway disease. Children

exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of asthma, respiratory

infections, sudden infant death syndrome, developmental abnormalities, and

cancer. (California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA), "Health effects

of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke", Tobacco Control 6(4): 346-353,

Winter, 1997.)

The Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires that disabled persons have

access to public places and workplaces, deems impaired respiratory function to

be a disability. (Daynard, R.A., "Environmental tobacco smoke and the Americans

with Disabilities Act," Nonsmokers' Voice 15(1): 8-9.)









The U.S. Surgeon General has determined that the simple separation of smokers

and nonsmokers within the same air space may reduce, but does not eliminate,

the exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke. (Department of Health and Human

Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the

Surgeon General. Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, 1986.) The

Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be

reduced to safe levels in businesses by high rates of ventilation. Air

cleaners, which are only capable of filtering the particulate matter and odors

in smoke, do not eliminate the known toxins in secondhand smoke. (Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), "Indoor air facts no. 5: environmental tobacco smoke,"

Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), June 1989.)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the risk of

acute myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease associated with exposure

to tobacco smoke is non-linear at low doses, increasing rapidly with relatively

small doses such as those received from secondhand smoke or actively smoking

one or two cigarettes a day, and has warned that all patients at increased risk

of coronary heart disease or with known coronary artery disease should avoid

all indoor environments that permit smoking. (Pechacek, Terry F.; Babb,

Stephen, "Commentary: How acute and reversible are the cardiovascular risks of

secondhand smoke?" British Medical Journal 328: 980-983, April 24, 2004.)

A significant amount of secondhand smoke exposure occurs in the workplace.

Employees who work in smoke-filled businesses suffer a 25-50% higher risk of

heart attack and higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer,

as well as increased acute respiratory disease and measurable decrease in lung

function. (Pitsavos, C.; Panagiotakos, D.B.; Chrysohoou, C.; Skoumas, J.;

Tzioumis, K.; Stefanadis, C.; Toutouzas, P., "Association between exposure to

environmental tobacco smoke and the development of acute coronary syndromes:

the CARDIO2000 case-control study," Tobacco Control 11(3): 220-225, September

2002.)

Smoke-filled workplaces result in higher worker absenteeism due to respiratory

disease, lower productivity, higher cleaning and maintenance costs, increased

health insurance rates, and increased liability claims for diseases related to

exposure to secondhand smoke. ("The high price of cigarette smoking," Business

& Health 15(8), Supplement A: 6-9, August 1997.)

Numerous economic analyses examining restaurant and hotel receipts and

controlling for economic variables have shown either no difference or a

positive economic impact after enactment of laws requiring workplaces to be

smoke free. Creation of smoke free workplaces is sound economic policy and

provides the maximum level of employee health and safety. (Glantz, S.A. &

Smith, L. The effect of ordinances requiring smoke free restaurants on

restaurant sales in the United States. American Journal of Public Health,

87:1687-1693, 1997; Colman, R.; Urbonas, C.M., "The economic impact of

smoke-free workplaces: an assessment for Nova Scotia, prepared for Tobacco

Control Unit, Nova Scotia Department of Health," GPI Atlantic, September 2001.)

Smoking is a potential cause of fires; cigarette and cigar burns and ash stains

on merchandise and fixtures causes economic damage to businesses. ("The high

price of cigarette smoking," Business & Health 15(8), Supplement A: 6-9, August

1997.)

Accordingly, the Columbus Consolidated Government finds and declares that the

purposes of this ordinance are (1) to protect the public health and welfare by

prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment; and (2) to

guarantee the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke free air, and to recognize

that the need to breathe smoke free air shall have priority over the desire to

smoke.





Sec. 1002. Definitions

The following words and phrases, whenever used in this Article, shall be

construed as defined in this Section:

1. "Attached Bar" means a bar area of a restaurant.

2. "Bar" means an establishment, where no persons under the age of 18 are

allowed to gain admission, 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.

3. "Business" means a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture,

corporation, or other business entity, either for-profit or not-for-profit,

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.

4. "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 non-profit entity.

5. "Employer" means a person, business, partnership, association, and

corporation, including a municipal corporation, trust, or non-profit entity

that employs the services of one or more individual persons.

6. "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.

7. "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.

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 childcare, adult day care, or health care facility.

9. ?Private Club? Any nonprofit group, including fraternal organizations, and

an auxiliary or subsidiary group organized and operated under the laws of this

state with a membership of not less than fifty members who pay membership dues

at the rate of not less than five dollars per year and who, under the

constitution and bylaws of the club, have all voting rights and full membership

privileges, and which group is the owner or lessee of premises used exclusively

for club purposes; and which group is operated solely for recreation, social,

patriotic, political, benevolent or athletic purposes; and the club has been

granted an exemption by the United States from the payment of federal income

tax as a club under the provisions of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code

of 1986, as amended. Which is to include all VFW an/or American legion premises.

10. "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, 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 childcare, adult day care, or health care

facility.

11. "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 "restaurant" shall

include an attached bar.

12. "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.

13. "Service Line" means an indoor line in which one (1) or more persons are

waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not the service

involves the exchange of money.

14. "Shopping Mall" means an enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves

to connect retail or professional establishments.

15. "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.

16. "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.



Sec. 1003. Application of Article to Columbus Consolidated Government Owned

Facilities

All enclosed facilities, including buildings and vehicles owned, leased, or

operated by the Consolidated Government of Columbus, shall be subject to the

provisions of this Article.



Sec. 1004. Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places

Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed public places within the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, 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 non-profit entities patronized by the public, including but not limited to,

professional offices, banks, laundromats, hotels, and motels.

3. Bingo facilities.

4. Convention facilities.

5. Educational facilities, both public and private.

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 childcare 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, under the

authority of the Consolidated Government of Columbus, and ticket, boarding, and

waiting areas of public transit depots.

13. Restaurants, including attached bars.

14. Restrooms, lobbies, reception areas, hallways, and other common-use areas.

15. Retail stores.

16. Room, chambers, places of meeting or public assembly, including school

buildings, under the control of an agency, board, commission, committee or

council of the Columbus Consolidated Government or a political subdivision of

the State, to the extent the place is subject to the jurisdiction of the

Columbus Consolidated Government.

17. Service lines.

18. Shopping malls.

19. Sports arenas, including enclosed places in outdoor arenas.



Sec. 1005. Prohibition of Smoking in Places of Employment

A. Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed facilities within places of

employment without exception. This includes 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. This prohibition on smoking shall be communicated to all existing employees

by the effective date of this Article and to all prospective employees upon

their application for employment.



Sec. 1006. Reasonable Distance

Smoking is prohibited within a reasonable distance of 25 feet outside an

enclosed area where smoking is prohibited, so as to insure that tobacco smoke

does not enter the area through entrances, windows, ventilation systems, or

other means.



Sec. 1007. Where Smoking Not Regulated

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article to the contrary, the

following areas shall be exempt from the provisions of Sections 1004 and 1005:



1. Bars other than attached bars; provided that smoke from these places does

not infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of

this Article.

2. A Private Club

3. Private residences, except when used as a licensed child care, adult day

care, or health care facility.

4. Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are designated as

smoking rooms; provided, however, that not more than twenty percent (20%) of

rooms rented to guests in a hotel or motel may be so designated. The status of

rooms as smoking or nonsmoking may not be changed, except to add additional

nonsmoking rooms.

5. Retail tobacco stores; provided that smoke from these places does not

infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this

Article.

6. Private and semiprivate rooms in nursing homes and long-term care facilities

that are occupied by one (1) or more persons, all of whom are smokers and have

requested in writing to be placed in a room where smoking is permitted;

provided that smoke from these places does not infiltrate into areas where

smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this Article.

7. Any property owned, operated or leased by County/City or that of the State

or Federal Government.

8. Outdoor areas of places of employment except those covered by the provisions

of Section 1006.



Sec. 1008. Declaration of Establishment as Nonsmoking

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 Section 1009(A) is posted.



Sec. 1009. Posting of Signs

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 in every public

place and place of employment where smoking is prohibited by this Article, by

the owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of that place.

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 having control of

the area.



Sec. 1010. Nonretaliation

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 reports or attempts to prosecute a violation of this Article.

Sec. 1011. Enforcement

A. This Article shall be enforced by the Code Enforcement of Columbus

Consolidated Government or Columbus Department of Public Health or City Manager

or Fire Chief or Police Chief or Muscogee County Sheriff or an authorized

designee.

B. Notice of the provisions of this Article shall be given to all applicants

for a business license in the Consolidated Government of Columbus.

C. Any citizen who desires to register a complaint under this Article may

initiate enforcement with the Code Enforcement of Columbus Consolidated

Government or Columbus Police Chief or Muscogee County Sheriff or authorized

designees.

D. The Health Department, Fire Department, or their designees 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 thereof.

F. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, an employee or private

citizen may bring legal action to enforce this Article.

G. In addition to the remedies provided by the provisions of this Section, Code

Enforcement of Columbus Consolidated Government, the Columbus Department of

Public Health or City Manager or Fire Chief or Police Chief or Muscogee County

Sheriff or any person aggrieved by the failure of the owner, operator, manager,

or other person in control of a public place or a 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.

Sec. 1012. Violations and Penalties

A. A person who smokes in an area where smoking is prohibited by the provisions

of this Article shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine not

exceeding fifty dollars ($50).

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 an infraction, punishable by:

1. A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) for a first violation.

2. A fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200) for a second violation

within one (1) year.

3. A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) for each additional

violation within one (1) year.

C. In addition to the fines established by this 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.



Sec. 1013. Public Education

The Columbus Department of Public Health or City Manager or Columbus Fire

Department or Columbus Police Department and Muscogee County Sheriffs

Department 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 ordinance.



Sec. 1014. Governmental Agency Cooperation

The Columbus Department of Public Health or City Manager or Columbus Fire

Department or Columbus police Department and Muscogee County Sheriffs

Department shall annually request other governmental and educational agencies

having facilities within the Columbus Consolidated Government to establish

local operating procedures in cooperation and compliance with this Article.

This includes urging all Federal, State, Columbus Consolidated Government, and

School District agencies to update their existing smoking control regulations

to be consistent with the current health findings regarding secondhand smoke.



Sec. 1015. Other Applicable Laws



This Article shall not be interpreted or construed to permit smoking where it

is otherwise restricted by other applicable laws.

Sec. 1016. Liberal Construction

This Article shall be liberally construed so as to further its purposes.



Sec. 1017. Severability

If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph of this Article or the

application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be held invalid, that

invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this Article which can be

given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the

provisions of this Article are declared to be severable.



Sec. 1018. Effective Date

This Article shall be effective thirty (30) days from and after the date of its

adoption.



Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights

American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation

?2004