Senate Bill S2657

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S2657

SPONSOR: STAVISKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to restricting areas
where smoking is permitted

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to prohibit smoking in private
passenger automobiles where minors less than 14 years of age are passen-
gers in such vehicles.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Section 1399-o of the public health law is amended by adding
a new subdivision 19:

19.a - Prohibits smoking in a private passenger car, private passenger
van or private passenger truck where minors under fourteen years of age
              

are passengers in such vehicle.

19.b - Sets forth a rebuttable presumption of smoking for the purposes
of this subdivision.

Section 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1355-q of the public health law, as
amended by chapter 11 of the laws of 2003, is amended to include
personal automobiles in subdivision 5.

Section 3. Section 1399-v of the public health law, as added by chapter
244 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:.

1. Private homes, private residences and private automobiles except as
provided in subdivision nineteen of section thirteen hundred ninety-
nine-o of this article.

Section 2 of the bill makes article 13-E of the public health law regu-
lation of smoking applicable to automobiles in those instances detailed
in the new subdivision 19 of section 1399-o set forth above.

Section 3. Section 1399-v of the public health law, as added by chapter
244 of the laws of 1985 is amended by adding subdivision two.

2. Any person who violates this law shall be liable for a fine of not
more than one hundred dollars to be imposed by any enforcement officer.

Section 4. Effective date of this law shall be the one hundred twentieth
day after it shall have become law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The harmful effect secondhand smoke (SHS) can have on people, especially
children has been well documented. The EPA estimates that secondhand
smoke causes up to 62,000 deaths each year among nonsmokers in the
United States, including 3,000 deaths due to lung cancer alone.

In 2006, the U.S, Surgeon General issued a report, "The Health Conse-
quences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke," saying that SHS is a
serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in
children. The report details that even brief exposure to SHS has immedi-
ate, adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and that because the
bodies of infants and children are still developing, they are especially
vulnerable to the poisons in SHS.

That same year, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported the
results of a Harvard School of Public Health study on SHS in automo-
biles. The study simulated children's exposure to secondhand smoke in a
motor vehicle by measuring carbon dioxide and respirable suspended
particles under actual driving conditions. The researchers determined
that the levels of RSP detected were deemed unsafe, particularly for
children. Their conclusion was that private passenger cars are a domes-
tic environment with the potential to yield unsafe levels of SHS contam-
inants.

At its Annual Meeting in June 2014, the American Medical Association
re-affirmed its commitment to protecting children from second-hand
smoke. The AMA said:

Studies suggest that children are more vulnerable than adults to
second-hand smoke and that second-hand smoke can increase likelihood of
ear disease, lower respiratory infections and asthma. The AMA is dedi-
cated to reducing exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke for both chil-
dren and adults and voted today to add to its policies on the topic,
strengthening its support of tobacco-free and smoke-free environments.
The new policy supports legislation that prohibits smoking while operat-
ing or riding in a vehicle with children - similar to policies in effect
in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Maine, Oregon, Utah and Puerto Rico.
"The dangers of secondhand smoke are marked and proven, and no one is
more at risk than our youth," said William Kobler, MD, member of the
Board of Trustees. It is important that we do all that we can to reduce
exposure to second-hand smoke by supporting smoke-free environments,
including vehicles." http://www.ama-assn.org/ama pubine ws/n ews/201
4/20 14-06 -10-new-pol icies-to-imp rov ethe-health-of -the-nation-da
y-two.page download ed 01.29.2015

Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) is a major preventable contributor to
acute and chronic adverse health outcomes that affect children dispro-
portionately.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in
children, second hand smoke causes the following:

òear infections

òmore frequent and severe asthma attacks, onset of asthma in previously
healthy children

òrespiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath)

òrespiratory infections (bronchitis, pneumonia)

òa greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome.

In the U.S., for children aged 18 months or younger, secondhand smoke
exposure is responsible for an estimated 150,000-300,000 new cases of
bronchitis and pneumonia annually and approximately 7,500 - 15,000
hospitalizations annually. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand
smoke at home increase their lung cancer risk by 20-30%. (information

The CDC reports that there are more than 7,000 chemicals, including
hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer. The World
Health Organization has established 25 mcg/m3 as the limit for safe
particulate matter levels.

In 2012, The Scottish Centre for Indoor Air at the University of Aber-
deen conducted a study that highlights the dangers of SHS in automo-
biles. Researchers measured fine particulate matter in the rear passen-
ger seat of cars driven by 14 smokers and 3 nonsmokers.  Particulate
matter levels averaged 7.4 mcg/m3 during smoke-free drives, but were 11
times higher (85 mcg/m3) in cars where smoking occurred. Average levels
peaked at 385 mcg/m3, with the highest level being 880 mcg/m3.

While awareness of SHS has modified the behavior of smoking in house-
holds, the same cannot be said of automobiles. A November 2012 Center
for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy study found that two
out of three parents with smoke-free home policies do not enforce the
same rules in their cars. Some three-quarters of smoking parents admit-
ted that someone had smoked in their car in the last three months. In
addition, only one-quarter of smoking parents adopt a smoke-free car
policy and nearly half of those who do not enforce a ban, smoke while
their children are in the car.

Smoking is prohibited in many public places such as airplanes, shopping
malls, restaurants, bars, and a whole range of facilities and spaces
serving child age populations. The dangers secondhand smoke can pose to
a child in an enclosed area like a private passenger vehicle are severe.
We currently provide protections for both children and drivers by
mandating the use of car seats and seatbelts in private automobiles.
This bill is an extension of those protections by providing children
clean air to breathe.

The $100 penalty imposed for violation of this ban is justified by the
significant, well-documented negative health impact on those children
forcibly exposed to SHS in automobiles.

In New York State on the local level, Rockland County has already
enacted a ban on smoking in cars with children up to the age of 18.  At
least 15 other states and the District of Columbia have similar legis-
lation pending. At present, seven states have enacted legislation
prohibiting smoking in cars that are transporting foster children.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:':

This legislation has been previously introduced.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become law.