(A) Findings. As an incident of the adoption of this section, the Town Council makes the following findings.
(1) Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States, killing 53,500 Americans prematurely each year;
(2) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Toxicology Program’s Report on carcinogens, National Cancer Institute, and the International Agency for Research On Cancer have all reported that secondhand smoke is a group A human carcinogen, a cancer causing substance, of which there is no safe level of exposure;
(3) The health consequences of involuntary smoking have been reported by the U.S. Surgeon General to be a cause of disease, including lung cancer, in healthy non-smokers;
(4) The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that a simple separation of smokers and non-smokers within the same airspace does not eliminate the exposure of non-smokers;
(5) Numerous medical and scientific studies show substantial levels of exposure to secondhand smoke among the U.S. population. And over the past two (2) decades, the health hazards resulting from exposure to secondhand smoke have been increasingly recognized;
(6) Secondhand smoke increases the risk of developing breast cancer in younger, premenopausal women; and when inhaled by pregnant women, secondhand smoke increases the risk for low-weight babies, pre-term delivery, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS);
(7) Exposure to secondhand smoke by children leads to decreased lung function, asthma, pneumonia, ear infections, bronchitis and even sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS);
(8) Studies of hospital admissions for acute, myocardial infarction in Helena, Montana and Pueblo, Colorado before, during, and after a local law eliminating smoking in workplaces and public places was in effect, had determined that laws to enforce smoke-free workplaces and public places may be associated with a reduction in morbidity from heart disease;
(9) Workplaces have been shown to be locations of significant exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke by employees working in the incorporated areas of the town;
(10) There are laws, ordinances, and regulations in place that protect workers from other environmental hazards, including Class A carcinogens, asbestos, arsenic and benzene, but none which regulate exposure to secondhand smoke; and
(11) The South Carolina General Assembly at S.C. Code §§ 44-95-10 et seq. (the “Clean Indoor Air Act of 1990”) imposed certain limitations on smoking. For example, it limited smoking in government buildings (the definition of which includes town owned buildings) except where the owner of such building shall designate smoking areas.
(B) Intent. The Town Council finds that is in the best interest of the people of the incorporated areas of the town to protect nonsmokers from involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace. Therefore, the Town Council declares that the purpose of this section is:
(1) To preserve and improve the health, comfort, and environment of the people of the incorporated areas of the town by limiting exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace; 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.
(C) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
EMPLOYEE. Any person who performs services for an employer in return for wages, profit or other valuable consideration, and/or a person who volunteers his or her services for a nonprofit entity.
EMPLOYER. Any person, partnership, association, corporation, trust, school, college, university or other educational institution, nonprofit entity or other organization, including any public or private employer, any manager, supervisor, and all other persons charged with control, supervision, and operation of any workplace, work space, or work spaces as defined herein, that employs one (1) or more persons.
ENCLOSED. A space bounded by walls (with or without windows), a ceiling or roof, and enclosed by doors, including but not limited to, offices, rooms, foyers, waiting areas and halls.
PRIVATE CLUB. An organization, whether incorporated or not, which is the owner, lessee, or occupant of a building or portion thereof used exclusively for club purposes at all times, which
is operated solely for a recreational, social, patriotic, political, benevolent, or athletic purpose, but not for pecuniary gain, and which only sells alcoholic beverages incidental to its operation. The affairs and management of the organization are conducted by a board of directors, executive committee, or similar body chosen by the members at an annual meeting. The organization has established bylaws and/or a constitution to govern its activities. The organization has been granted an exemption from the payment of federal income tax as a club under 26 U.S.C. § 501. Establishments which are in fact operating as bars, restaurants, or entertainment venues primary for the pecuniary benefit of the owner or chief operating officer shall not be treated as PRIVATE CLUBS under this definition when being used for a function to which the general public is allowed to enter.
RETAIL TOBACCO STORE. Any establishment which is not required to possess a retail food permit whose primary purpose is to sell or offer for sale to consumers, but not for resale, tobacco products and paraphernalia, in which the sale of other products is merely incidental, and in which the entry of persons under the age of 18 is prohibited at all times.
SECONDHAND SMOKE. The complex mixture formed from the escaping smoke of a burning tobacco product (termed as “sidestream smoke”) and smoke exhaled by the smoker. Exposure to secondhand smoke is also frequently referred to as PASSIVE SMOKING, SECONDHAND SMOKING, or INVOLUNTARY SMOKING.
SMOKING. The inhaling, exhaling, burning, lighting or carrying of a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, or similar device or any other lighted tobacco product.
SMOKING MATERIALS. Includes cigars, cigarettes and all other manner of smoking devices intended to be used for the purpose of inhaling, burning, carrying or exhaling lighted tobacco products.
WORKPLACE. Any enclosed indoor area, structure, building or facility or any portion thereof at which one (1) or more employee(s) perform services for their employer, including but not limited to: retail food stores, retail stores, restaurants, bars, cabarets, cafes, public or private clubs, pool halls, and bowling alleys.
WORK SPACE or WORK SPACES. Any enclosed area occupied by an employee during the course of his or her employment, including but not limited to: offices, customer service areas, common areas, hallways, waiting areas, restrooms, lounges, and eating areas.
(D) Prohibition of smoking in the workplace. The following apply to all incorporated areas of the town:
(1) All employers shall provide a smoke-free environment for all employees working in any work space or workplaces as those terms are defined herein. Further, the employer shall prohibit any persons present in any work space or workplace from smoking tobacco products therein.
(2) No person shall smoke or possess a lighted tobacco product in any work space or workplace.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, an owner, operator, manager, or other person in control of an establishment, facility or outdoor area may declare the entire establishment, facility or outdoor area as a nonsmoking location. Smoking shall then be prohibited in any place in which a sign conforming to the requirements of this section is posted.
(E) Exceptions. Notwithstanding the provisions of division (D) herein, smoking may be permitted in the following places in the incorporated areas of the town under the following circumstances:
(1) Private residences;
(2) Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are designated as smoking rooms; provided however, that not more than 25% of rooms rented to guests in a hotel or motel may be so designated. All smoking rooms on the same floor must be contiguous and smoke from these rooms must not infiltrate areas where smoking is prohibited under provisions of this section. The status of rooms as smoking or nonsmoking may not be changed, except to add additional nonsmoking rooms;
(3) Retail tobacco stores as defined herein;
(4) Private clubs that have no employees, except when being used for a function to which the general public is admitted; and
(5) Religious ceremonies where smoking is part of the ritual.
(F) Posting of signs. The owner, manager, or person in control of a workplace shall post a conspicuous sign at the main entrance to the workplace, which shall contain the words “No Smoking” and the universal symbol for no smoking.
(G) Reasonable distance. In the incorporated area of the town, smoking is prohibited within a distance of ten (10) feet from any door which is used as an entrance to or exit from an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited so as to ensure that tobacco smoke does not enter the area through the entry. This distance shall be measured from the center of the door in question.
(H) Jurisdiction; enforcement.
(1) A person, who owns, manages, operates, or otherwise controls a workplace or work space and who fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of an infraction.
(2) A person smoking or possessing a lighted tobacco product in any work space or workplace shall be guilty of an infraction.
(I) Governmental agency cooperation. The Municipal Clerk shall request other governmental and educational agencies having facilities within the incorporated areas of the town to establish local operating procedures in cooperation and compliance with this section. This includes urging all federal, state, county, city, and school district agencies to update their existing smoking control regulations to be consistent with the current health findings regarding secondhand smoke.
(Ord. 93-60, passed 7-20-2010; Am. Ord. 2020-02, passed 1-21-2020) Penalty, see § 93.99