BILL NUMBER:  S5209

 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
passengers in such vehicles.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1. Section 1399-o of the public health law is amended by
adding a new subdivision 5:

5.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.

5.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
regulation 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 US, Surgeon General issued a report, "The Health
Consequences 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 immediate, 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
automobiles. 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 domestic environment with the potential to yield unsafe
levels of SHS contaminants.

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
dedicated to reducing exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke for both
children 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 operating 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 second-hand 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/pub/news/
news/2014/2014-06-10-new-policies-to-improve-the-health-of-the-nation-
day-two-page downloaded 01.29.2015

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

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

*ear infections
*more frequent and severe asthma attacks, onset of asthma in
previously healthy children
*respiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath)
*respiratory infections (bronchitis, pneumonia)
*a 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
from CDC website last updated 4/11/14
www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data-statistics, downloaded 01.29.2015)

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
Aberdeen conducted a study that highlights the dangers of SHS in
automobiles. Researchers measured fine particulate matter in the rear
passenger 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
households, 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 admitted 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
legislation 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.