BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1142
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Isadore Hall, Chair
AB 1142 (Bloom) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : State beaches and parks: smoking ban
SUMMARY : Prohibits any person from smoking, or disposing of
used tobacco products, on a state coastal beach, as defined, or
within a unit of the state park system, as defined.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes it unlawful for any person to smoke a cigar, cigarette,
or other tobacco-related product on a state coastal beach or
in a unit of the state park system.
2)Prohibits any person from disposing of used cigar, cigarette,
or tobacco-related product waste within the boundaries of an
area in which it is prohibited by this measure.
3)Defines a "state coastal beach" as an area that is owned,
operated, or under the jurisdiction of the state, an agency of
the state, or a department of the state and that adjoins the
ocean, a bay or statuary.
4)Makes any person who violates the provisions of this bill
guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine of $250.
5)Requires the Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) to develop
and post signs at state coastal beaches and units of the state
park system to provide notice of smoking prohibition by no
later than January 1, 2016.
6)Defines a "unit of the state park system" as all parks, public
camp grounds, monument sites, landmark sites, and sites of
historical interest established or acquired by the State, or
which are under its control, constitute the State Park System
except the sites and grounds known as the State Fair Grounds
in the city of Sacramento, and Balboa Park in the city of San
Diego.
7)Defines "smoke or smoking" as the carrying of a lighted pipe,
lighted cigar, or lighted cigarette, of any kind, or the
lighting of a pipe, cigar, or cigarette, of any kind,
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including, but not limited to, tobacco or any other weed or
plant.
EXISTING LAW
1)Prohibits smoking inside a public building, or in an outdoor
area within 20 feet of a main exit, entrance or window of a
public building, or in a state-owned passenger vehicle.
Authorizes a person to smoke in any other outdoor area of a
public building unless otherwise prohibited by state law or
local ordinance, and a sign describing the prohibition is
posted.
2)Allows cities, counties and colleges to adopt more restrictive
ordinances prohibiting smoking.
3)Makes it an infraction, punishable by a $250 fine, for a
person to smoke within 25 feet of a playground or sandbox area
or the disposal of smoking-related waste.
4)Requires the DPR to administer and protect state park
properties for the use and enjoyment of the public. Prohibits
smoking in state parks upon a finding of extreme fire hazard
by the DPR, except as allowed in designated areas.
5)Requires individuals who are convicted of violating a
Department of Parks and Recreation rule or regulation which
involves the leaving, depositing, dropping, or scattering of
bottles, broken glass, ashes, wastepaper, cans, or other
rubbish in any unit of the state park system be punished by a
scale of mandatory fines. Provides courts with the discretion
to require convicted individuals, as a condition of their
probation, to pick up litter at a time and place within the
court's jurisdiction for, at least, an eight hour period.
6)Prohibits the smoking of tobacco products in an enclosed space
at a place of employment, unless otherwise exempted.
Violation of the prohibition results in fines of $100 for the
first violations, $200 for a second violation within one year,
and $500 for a third and subsequent violation within one year.
Enforcement of the smoking prohibition is carried out by
local law enforcement agencies, unless an employer has been
found guilty of three or more violations, which will require
an investigation of the Division of Occupational Safety and
Health (DOSH).
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of the bill : According to the author, cigarettes and
cigarette butts are the most prevalent form of trash found on
our beaches, and are not only an eyesore but have harmful
effects on the marine environment. Second-hand smoke is also a
public health hazard, and often diminishes the value of a day
spent on the beach and in parks for the majority of visitors.
Many local beaches and parks all over the state have enacted
smoking bans, but our state beaches and parks remain lagging on
this issue. It is time for our state beaches and parks to be
brought up to speed and to ban smoking to ensure that marine
litter is reduced and exposure to secondhand smoke is cut.
The problem of cigarette butts : Attempts at banning smoking on
state beaches and parks at the statewide level has been
commonplace in the State of California, with the last attempt
occurring in 2010. Since then the number of local jurisdictions
that have enacted smoking bans has grown, with a total of 43
local beach bans and 137 bans in local parks.
The problem of cigarette butt litter is well documented and
supported by numerous studies. For example, in 2009 over 1.6
million pieces of cigarette butt litter were retrieved from U.S.
beaches, according to the Surfrider Foundation. During the 2008
Coastal Cleanup Day in California, 340,000 cigarette butts were
collected from California beaches. The Surfrider Foundation
estimates that Americans discard more than 175 million pounds of
cigarettes buttes every year. Therefore, it is no surprise that
cigarette butts have been the most common type of trash found
during coastal cleanup days for the past 24 years in a row. The
recent bans on indoor smoking have also appeared to cause a
shift in cigarette butt deposition. Circumstantial evidence
indicates that more cigarette butts are accumulating outside of
buildings due to the popularity of indoor smoking bans. It is
also important to note that a lot of the cigarette butts found
in beaches are carried as runoff from streets to drains, to
rivers, and ultimately to the ocean and its beaches. With that
said, the National Audubon Society, a national organization
created with the ultimate goal to conserve and restore natural
ecosystems, claims that smoke-free beach laws help reduce
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cigarette butts in beaches by 45%.
Cigarette butts are not biodegradable, and toxic chemicals leach
into delicate aquatic ecosystems and affect marine life and
water quality. In addition, the plastic parts of cigarette
butts can be ingested by fish, birds, whales and other marine
animals. Toxic chemicals leached from discarded cigarette butts
were also found to present a biohazard to water fleas, which
play an important role in aquatic ecosystems by transferring
organic matter from primary producers such as algae to higher
consumers such as fishes.
In addition to the litter problem, tobacco-related illness is
the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States.
The U.S. Surgeon General concluded that there is no risk-free
level of exposure to secondhand smoke. According to information
provided by the author, secondhand smoke is responsible for
approximately 73,000 deaths among nonsmokers each year.
Effects of outdoor smoking : A 2007 study entitled, "Real-Time
Measurement of Outdoor Tobacco Smoke," conducted by researchers
at Stanford University sought to measure peak and time-averaged
outdoor tobacco smoke concentrations in common outdoor settings
near smokers and to explore the determinants of time varying
outdoor tobacco smoke levels, including the effects of source
proximity and wind.
The study found that outdoor tobacco smoke levels can be
substantial under certain conditions, but are dependent on wind
conditions and proximity to the person smoking. The study found
that during periods of active smoking, peak and average outdoor
tobacco smoke levels dropped almost instantly after smoking
activity ceased. Unlike indoor levels of secondhand smoke,
which slowly decapitate over a period of hours, outdoor tobacco
smoke levels dropped almost instantly to zero when smoking
ended.
In addition, outdoor tobacco smoke levels approached zero at
distances greater than 2 meters from a single cigarette, and
were nearly zero when in a constant upwind direction from an
active cigarette. Nonetheless, the study found outdoor tobacco
smoke levels can be high during periods of smoking in locations
where persons are near active smokers, especially when they
downwind. Therefore, it is possible for outdoor tobacco smoke
to present a nuisance or hazard under certain conditions.
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Senate bill 4 (Oropeza), 2009-2010 Legislative Session : Similar
to AB 1142 (Bloom), this measure would have made it an
infraction for an individual to smoke on a state beach or a unit
of the state park system, but would have made the prohibition
enforceable only in those state parks where signs have been
posted notifying the public of the prohibition. SB 4 also
included exceptions for adjacent parking lots and for areas of
state beaches designated as campsite. That bill also authorized
but did not mandate the DPR to post signs, and provided that new
signs would be erected only when existing signs were replaced in
order to reduce costs to the state park system. SB 4 was vetoed
by then Governor Schwarzenegger who objected to mandating in
state law that people not smoke outdoors in certain areas.
The DPR at that time raised concerns, based primarily on the
cost pressure to DPR to provide signage and community outreach,
and the challenges of enforcement. The state park system
includes 300 miles of state beaches and 279 state park units
throughout the state, covering a total of 1.3 million acres.
Since it would be infeasible and cost prohibitive to posts signs
everywhere, the DPR noted enforcement of the smoking prohibition
could be uneven and inequitable.
Arguments in support : Supporters of the measure argue that
secondhand smoke is a known hazard of which there is no safe
level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency categorizes
secondhand smoke as known human carcinogen, placing it in the
most dangerous category reserved for substances including radon,
benzene, and asbestos. The research is overwhelming, with over
7,000 chemicals, at least 70 of which are cancer-causing, even
brief exposure to secondhand smoke is dangerous.
Supporters further argue that cigarette litter is the most
commonly littered item at our public beaches and parks, with
more than 1.3 million butts being removed from beaches across
the nation in 2011. Here in California, over 100 communities
have taken steps to protect their local parks and beaches,
resulting in protections for a majority of the Southern
California coastline. But these local measures can only go as
far as covering local jurisdiction, and leave the state owned
and operated parks and beaches without protections.
Suggested Amendments :
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1)The DPR is already authorized to prohibit smoking in state
parks upon a finding of extreme fire hazard, except as allowed
in designated areas. In addition, the DPR already prohibits
littering in state parks, which includes cigarette butts. The
Committee may therefore wish to remove the parks component of
this measure beginning on page 2, line 17:
(5) "Unit of the state park system" means an area
specified in Section 5002.
(b) A person shall not smoke a cigar, cigarette, or other
tobacco-related product on a state coastal beach or in a
unit of the state park system .
2)Prior legislation, including SB 4 (Oropeza) of the 2009-2010
Legislation Session, exempted parking lots from the smoking
prohibition. Therefore the committee may wish to consider the
following amendment beginning on page 2, line 13:
4) "State coastal beach" means an area that is owned,
operated, or under the jurisdiction of the state, an agency
of the state, or a department of the state and that adjoins
the ocean, a bay, or an estuary. " State coastal beach" does
not include an adjacent parking lot.
3)Prior legislation, including SB 4 (Oropeza) of the 2009-2010
Legislation Session, exempted an area of a state coastal beach
that is officially designated as a campsite. Therefore the
committee may wish to consider the following amendment
beginning on page 2, after line 16:
This section shall not apply to an area of a state coastal
beach that is officially designated as a campsite.
4)Prior legislation, including SB 4 (Oropeza) of the 2009-2010
Legislation Session, established the fine at $100 dollar.
This measure currently establishes a fine of $250. The
committee may wish to consider the following amendment
beginning on page 2, line 25:
(d) A person who violates this section is guilty of an
infraction and shall be punished by a fine of two one
hundred fifty dollars ($ 250 100 ).
5)The current version of the bill requires the DPR to develop
and post signs to provide notice of the smoking prohibition no
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later than January 1, 2016. However, if this bill becomes
law, it would take effect on January 1, 2014. This could leave
a two year period where the smoking prohibition is in effect
but the public is unaware that such a prohibition exists. The
committee may wish to consider the following amendment
beginning on page 3, after line 3:
This section shall be enforced only on state coastal
beaches once signs have been posted alerting the public to
the smoking prohibition, except that warnings may be given
before signs have been posted.
6)The bill currently defines "state coastal beaches" as an area
that is owned, operated, or under the jurisdictions of the
state. With such a broad definition this could include other
beach areas in the state beyond those classified as state
beaches. Therefore the committee may wish to consider the
following amendment beginning on page 2, line 13:
4) "State coastal beach" means an area that is owned,
operated, or under the jurisdiction of the state, an agency
of the state, or a department of the state and that adjoins
the ocean, a bay, or an estuary State beaches as defined in
Title 14, division 3, Chapter 10, section 4753, subdivision
c, of the California Code of Regulations.
This part of the California Code of Regulations specifies what
beaches in California are state beaches.
Double referred : AB 1142 (Bloom) was heard in Assembly Water,
Parks, and Wildlife Committee on April 16, 2013. The bill was
passed with a vote of 9-6.
Related legislation : AB 746 (Levine), pending in Assembly
Housing and Community Development Committee. The bill would
prohibit smoking in all new or existing multifamily dwellings
except in designated areas.
Prior legislation : SB 4 (Oropeza), 2009-2010 Legislative
Session. The bill would have prohibiting smoking at state
coastal beaches or a unit of a state park system. (Vetoed by the
Governor)
SB 1418 (Oropeza), 2007-2008 Legislative Session. The bill
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would have prohibited smoking at state coastal beaches or a unit
of a state park system. (Never heard in Senate Natural Resources
and Water Committee)
SB 454 (Yee), 2003-2004 Legislative Session. The bill would have
prohibited smoking on state beaches except within 20 feet of a
waste receptacle. (Failed in Senate Natural Resources and Water
Committee)
AB 1583 (Koretz), 2003-2004 Legislative Session. The bill would
have prohibited smoking at state beaches. (Failed on the Senate
Floor)
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Lung Association
California Against Waste
Clean Water Action
County Health Executive Association of California
Heal the Bay
Sierra Club California
Surfrider Foundation
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Felipe Lopez / G. O. / (916) 319-2531