2016 -- H 8081

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LC005681

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- PUBLIC BEACH SMOKING POLLUTION

CONTROL ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Solomon, Carson, Marshall, and Naughton

     Date Introduced: April 14, 2016

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     (by request)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled "HEALTH AND SAFETY" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 20.13

PUBLIC BEACH SMOKING POLLUTION CONTROL ACT

     23-20.13-1. Legislative findings and intent. – (a) The use of tobacco for smoking

purposes is being found to be increasingly dangerous, not only to the person smoking but also to

the nonsmoking person who is required to breathe the contaminated air. A pervasive intrusion of

the nonsmoker's right to unpolluted air space is the uncontrolled smoking on state beaches.

     (b) The state of Rhode Island is committed to keeping its state beaches clean, safe,

healthy, and pleasant for everyone.

     (1) Smoking is hazardous to health and numerous studies have shown that secondhand

smoke is a significant public health hazard.

     (2) Smoking in public places, including beaches, endangers children and others by

exposing them to secondhand smoke.

     (3) The United States Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke

as a group A carcinogen, the most dangerous class of carcinogen.

     (4) The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that

secondhand smoke causes children to suffer from lower respiratory tract illnesses, such as

bronchitis and pneumonia, exacerbates childhood asthma, and increases the risk of chronic

middle ear infection in children.

     (5) Discarding cigarettes butts, cigar butts, and tobacco waste on beach sand is unsightly,

unclean, and particularly hazardous to small children who handle and sometimes ingest them.

     (6) Cigarette butts are the top pollutant on beaches and, if uncollected, may wash directly

into ocean waters to the detriment of marine life and all ocean users.

     (7) Cigarette butts do not biodegrade and they contain two hundred (200) known poisons,

sixty-three (63) of which are shown to cause cancer.

     (8) Prohibiting smoking and the improper disposal of tobacco products on beaches under

the jurisdiction of the department of environmental management is necessary to protect the public

health, safety, and welfare of all residents and visitors. The legislature intends, by the enactment

of this chapter, to protect the health and atmospheric environment of the nonsmoker by regulating

smoking on public beaches.

     23-20.13-2. Definitions. – As used in this chapter, "smoking" or "to smoke" or "smoke"

means and includes the inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying of any lighted smoking equipment

or paraphernalia.

     23-20.13-3. Smoking prohibited on public beaches. – (a) No person shall smoke a

cigarette, cigar, or other tobacco-related product on, or within twenty feet (20') of any beach

under the jurisdiction of the department of environmental management.

     (b) No person shall dispose of cigarette butts, cigar butts, or any tobacco-related waste

on, or within twenty feet (20') of any beach under the jurisdiction of the department of

environmental management.

     (c) Every person convicted of a violation of subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be

guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a mandatory fine of not less than one hundred fifty dollars

($150) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) upon a first conviction; by a mandatory fine

of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) upon a

second conviction; and by a mandatory fine of not less than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750)

nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) upon a third or subsequent conviction.

     (d) The court may, in addition to the fine imposed upon a conviction, require as a

condition of probation, in addition to any other condition of probation, that any person convicted

of a violation of subsection (b) of this section, pick up litter on, or within twenty feet (20') of any

beach under the jurisdiction of the department of environmental management for not less than

eight (8) hours.

     (e) Any person convicted for a violation of this section may, upon a showing that

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payment of the total fine would pose a hardship on the defendant or their family, be sentenced to

perform public community restitution on any beach within the jurisdiction of the department of

environmental management in lieu of the total fine that would otherwise be imposed.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- PUBLIC BEACH SMOKING POLLUTION

CONTROL ACT

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     This act would prohibit smoking on public beaches in the state of Rhode Island.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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