GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

S                                                                                                                                                     1

SENATE BILL 469

Short Title:        Smoking Ban/Exempt Age-Restricted Venues.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Senators East;  Brown and Jackson.
Referred to:	Rules and Operations of the Senate.

March 31, 2011

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to exempt age-restricted venues from the smoking ban.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 130A-492 reads as rewritten:

"§ 130A-492.  Definitions.

The following definitions apply in this Article:

(1)        "Age-restricted venue". - A public place, including a bar or restaurant, that affirmatively restricts entry to persons who are 18 years of age or older, including employees, by requiring each person attempting to gain entry to submit for inspection a form of identification specified in G.S. 18B-302(d)(1) for the express purpose of determining if the person is 18 years of age or older.

(1a)      "Bar". - An establishment with a permit to sell alcoholic beverages pursuant to subdivision (1), (3), (5), or (10) of G.S. 18B-1001.

(2)        "Cigar bar". - An establishment with a permit to sell alcoholic beverages pursuant to subdivision (1), (3), (5), or (10) of G.S. 18B-1001 that satisfies all of the following:

a.         Generates sixty percent (60%) or more of its quarterly gross revenue from the sale of alcoholic beverages and twenty-five percent (25%) or more of its quarterly gross revenue from the sale of cigars;

b.         Has a humidor on the premises; and

c.         Does not allow individuals under the age of 21 to enter the premises.

Revenue generated from other tobacco sales, including cigarette vending machines, shall not be used to determine whether an establishment satisfies the definition of cigar bar.

(3)        "Employee". - A person who is employed by an employer, or who contracts with an employer or third person to perform services for an employer, or who otherwise performs services for an employer with or without compensation.

(4)        "Employer". - An individual person, business, association, political subdivision, or other public or private entity, including a nonprofit entity, that employs or contracts for or accepts the provision of services from one or more employees.

(5)        "Enclosed area". - An area with a roof or other overhead covering of any kind and walls or side coverings of any kind, regardless of the presence of openings for ingress and egress, on all sides or on all sides but one.

(6)        "Grounds". - An unenclosed area owned, leased, or occupied by State or local government.

(7)        "Local government". - A local political subdivision of this State, an airport authority, or an authority or body created by an ordinance, joint resolution, or rules of any such entity.

(8)        "Local government building". - A building owned, leased as lessor, or the area leased as lessee and occupied by a local government.

(9)        "Local vehicle". - A passenger-carrying vehicle owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by local government and assigned permanently or temporarily by local government to local government employees, agencies, institutions, or facilities for official local government business.

(10)      "Lodging establishment". - An establishment that provides lodging for pay to the public.

(11)      "Private club". - A country club or an organization that maintains selective members, is operated by the membership, does not provide food or lodging for pay to anyone who is not a member or a member's guest, and is either incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in accordance with Chapter 55A of the General Statutes or is exempt from federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code as defined in G.S. 105-130.2(1). For the purposes of this Article, private club includes country club.

(12)      "Private residence". - A private dwelling that is not a child care facility, as defined in G.S. 110-86(3), and not a long-term care facility, as defined in G.S. 131E-14.3(a)(1).

(13)      "Private vehicle". - A privately owned vehicle that is not used for commercial or employment purposes.

(14)      "Public place". - An enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted.

(15)      "Restaurant". - A food or lodging establishment that prepares and serves drink or food as regulated by the Commission pursuant to Part 6 of Article 8 of this Chapter.

(16)      "Smoking". - The use or possession of a lighted cigarette, lighted cigar, lighted pipe, or any other lighted tobacco product.

(17)      "State government". - The political unit for the State of North Carolina, including all agencies of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.

(18)      "State government building". - A building owned, leased as lessor, or the area leased as lessee and occupied by State government.

(19)      "State vehicle". - A passenger-carrying vehicle owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the State and assigned permanently or temporarily to a State employee or State agency or institution for official State business.

(19a) "Structurally separated". - A manner of construction that includes a stud wall covered with drywall or other building material, or other like barrier which, when completed, extends from the floor to the ceiling, resulting in a physically separated room. The wall or barrier may include portions that are made of glass or other gas-impervious building material.

(20)      "Tobacco shop". - A business establishment, the main purpose of which is the sale of tobacco, tobacco products, and accessories for such products, that receives no less than seventy-five percent (75%) of its total annual revenues from the sale of tobacco, tobacco products, and accessories for such products, and does not serve food or alcohol on its premises."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 130A-496 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

"(4) An age-restricted venue that is structurally separated and ventilated in a manner that prevents smoke from migrating into an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited pursuant to this Article."

SECTION 3.  G.S. 130A-498(b1) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

"(9) An age-restricted venue that is structurally separated and ventilated in a manner that prevents smoke from migrating into an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited pursuant to this Article."

SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2011.