2018 -- H 7612

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LC004381

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - PUBLIC HEALTH AND WORKPLACE SAFETY

ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Winfield, Lima, O'Brien, Ucci, and Williams

     Date Introduced: February 14, 2018

     Referred To: House Health, Education & Welfare

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 23-20.10-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-20.10 entitled

"Public Health and Workplace Safety Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     23-20.10-2. Definitions.

     The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter, shall be construed as

defined in this section:

     (1) "Assisted living residence" means a residence that provides personal assistance and

meals to adults in accordance with chapter 17.4 of this title.

     (2) "Bar" means an establishment that is devoted to the serving of alcoholic beverages for

consumption by guests on the premises and in which the serving of food is only incidental to the

consumption of those beverages, including, but not limited to, taverns, nightclubs, cocktail

lounges and cabarets.

     (3) "Business" means a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or

other business entity formed for profit-making purposes, including retail establishments where

goods or services are sold as well as professional corporations and other entities where legal,

medical, dental, engineering, architectural or other professional services are delivered.

     (4) "Disability" shall have the same meaning as set forth in the federal "Americans with

Disabilities Act of 1990", 42 U.S.C. § 12102 as amended, and all implementing regulations.

     (4)(5) "Employee" means a person who is employed by an employer in consideration for

direct or indirect monetary wages or profit and a person who volunteers his or her services for a

nonprofit entity.

     (5)(6) "Employer" means a person, business, partnership, association, corporation,

including a municipal corporation, trust or nonprofit entity that employs the services of one or

more individual persons.

     (6)(7) "Enclosed area" means all space between a floor and ceiling that is enclosed on all

sides by solid walls or windows (exclusive of doorways) that extend from the floor to the ceiling.

     (7)(8) "Health care facility" means an office or institution providing care or treatment of

diseases, whether physical, mental, emotional, or other medical, physiological or psychological

conditions, including, but not limited to, hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals or other clinics,

including weight control clinics, nursing homes, homes for the aging or chronically ill,

laboratories, and offices of surgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists, physicians, dentists, and

all specialists within these professions. This definition shall include all waiting rooms, hallways,

private rooms, semi-private rooms, and wards within health care facilities.

     (17)(9) "Legislature" means the general assembly of the state of Rhode Island.

     (8)(10) "Place of employment" means an area under the control of a public or private

employer that employees normally frequent during the course of employment, including, but not

limited to, work areas, employees lounges, restrooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms,

classrooms, employee cafeterias, and hallways. Vehicles owned by a public or private employer

are covered under this definition provided that the vehicle is used by more than one person. A

private residence is not a "place of employment" unless it is used as a child care, adult day care,

or health care facility.

     (9)(11) "Public place" means an enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which

the public is permitted, including, but not limited to, banks, bars, educational facilities, health

care facilities, laundromats, public transportation facilities, reception areas, restaurants, retail

food production and marketing establishments, retail service establishments, retail stores,

shopping malls, sports arenas, the state house, theaters and waiting rooms. A private residence is

not a "public place" unless it is used as a child care, adult day care, or health care facility.

     (10)(12) "Restaurant" means an eating establishment, including, but not limited to, coffee

shops, cafeterias, and private and public school cafeterias, that gives or offers for sale food to the

public, guests, or employees, as well as kitchens and catering facilities in which food is prepared

on the premises for serving elsewhere. The term "restaurant" shall include a bar area within the

restaurant.

     (11)(13) "Retail tobacco store" means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of

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tobacco products and accessories in which the total annual revenues generated by the sale of other

products are no greater than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total revenue for the establishment.

The division of taxation shall be responsible for the determination under this section and shall

promulgate any rules or forms necessary for the implementation of this section.

     (14) "Service dog" shall have the same meaning as "service animal" as set forth under

Titles II and III of the federal "Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990", 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et

seq., as amended, and all implementing regulations.

     (15) "Service-dog-in-training" means a dog or puppy that has been selected for service

dog work and is being handled by a service-dog trainer.

     (16) "Service dog trainer" means a competent dog trainer who is providing individual

training of a dog or puppy with the intention of having the dog or puppy become a working

service dog that will perform tasks for a disabled person.

     (12)(17) "Service line" means an indoor line in which one or more persons are waiting for

or receiving service of any kind, whether or not the service involves the exchange of money.

     (13)(18) "Shopping mall" means an enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves to

connect retail or professional establishments.

     (14)(19) "Smoking" means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar,

cigarette, pipe, weed, plant, or other combustible substance in any manner or in any form;

provided, however, that smoking shall not include burning during a religious ceremony.

     (15)(20) (a) "Smoking bar" means an establishment whose business is primarily devoted

to the serving of tobacco products for consumption on the premises, in which the annual revenues

generated by tobacco sales are greater than fifty percent (50%) of the total revenue for the

establishment and the serving of food or alcohol is only incidental to the consumption of such

tobacco products. Effective July 1, 2015, all existing establishments and establishments that open

thereafter must demonstrate quarterly, for a period of one year and annually thereafter, that the

annual revenue generated from the serving of tobacco products is greater than fifty percent (50%)

of the total revenue for the establishment, and the serving of food, alcohol, or beverages is only

incidental to the consumption of such tobacco products. Every owner of a smoking bar shall

register no later than January 1 of each year with the division of taxation and shall provide, at a

minimum, the owner's name and address and the name and address of the smoking bar. The

division of taxation in the department of administration shall be responsible for the determination

under this section and shall promulgate any rules or forms necessary for the implementation of

this section. The division of taxation in the department of administration shall be responsible for

the determination under this section and shall promulgate any rules or forms necessary for the

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implementation of this section.

     (b) Smoking bars shall only allow consumption of food and beverages sold by the

establishment on the premises and the establishment shall have public access only from the street.

     (c) Any smoking bar, as defined herein, is required to provide a proper ventilation system

that will prevent the migration of smoke into the street.

     (16)(21) "Sports arena" means sports pavilions, stadiums, (indoor or outdoor) organized

sports fields, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks,

bowling alleys, and other similar places where members of the general public assemble to engage

in physical exercise, participate in athletic competition, or witness sports or other events.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 23-20.10 of the General Laws entitled "Public Health and

Workplace Safety Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     23-20.10-17. Fraudulent claim of service animal.

     (a) No person shall take a dog into a public accommodation where pets are not permitted,

and state or imply that the dog is a service dog if the dog is not a service-dog-in-training, or a

service dog actually performing the duties of a service dog.

     (b) No person shall misrepresent the status of a pet dog as a service dog for the purpose

of obtaining any rights, privileges or treatment afforded to disabled persons and for which the

person is not qualified.

     (c) Any police or animal control officer may investigate and enforce this section. An

officer investigating this section may make inquiry of the individual accompanied by the service

dog in question. Refusal of the individual to answer permissible question by the officer regarding

the status of the dog as a service dog shall create a presumption that the dog is not a service dog.

Upon violation of this section, an officer may issue a citation and require the individual to remove

the dog from the place of public accommodation.

     (d) The department of health shall prepare and make available to businesses:

     (1) A decal or sign, suitable for posting in a front door or window, stating service dogs

are welcome and misrepresentation of the status of a pet dog as a service dog is a violation of

Rhode Island law; and

     (2) A brochure or pamphlet which details permissible questions a business owner may

ask in order to determine whether a dog is a service dog, proper responses to the permissible

questions, and guidelines defining unacceptable behavior in violation of this section.

     (e) Upon a violation under this section, a civil penalty of not more than five hundred

dollars ($500), or an order to perform thirty (30) hours of community service for an organization

that serves individuals with disabilities or such other organization as ordered in the discretion of

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the court, or both, may be imposed.

     SECTION 3. 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 HEALTH AND WORKPLACE SAFETY

ACT

***

     This act would prohibit misrepresentation of the status of a pet dog as a service dog to

acquire any right or privilege afforded disabled persons. The department of health would be

required to provide decals for posting by businesses notifying the public of this law and would

require the department to provide informational pamphlets to businesses, upon request, providing

permissible questions to determine the status of a dog. This act would also provide for civil

penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500) and thirty (30) hours of community service for

violators.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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