Digest of New York State Smoking Laws
New York State Clean Indoor Air Act
In 1989, New York State implemented the Clean Indoor Air Act in an effort to reduce involuntary exposure in public places to the poisons found in secondhand smoke. The provisions of the law stipulate that restaurants with 51 or more seats must provide a nonsmoking section large enough to meet customer demand. The law requires no more than 70 percent of restaurant seating capacity to be designated nonsmoking to meet this demand. The law does not specify distance between smoking and nonsmoking areas, nor does it require dining areas or bar areas where smoking is allowed to be enclosed or separately ventilated.
Other provisions of the Clean Indoor Air Act include smoking restrictions in workplaces, where all public and common areas are required to be smoke-free. Smoking is restricted, but not prohibited, in other enclosed work areas. Bingo halls and bowling alleys are required by law to provide nonsmoking sections, although separations from smoking areas or separately enclosed smoking rooms are not required.
Chart: Summary of Clean Indoor Air Laws in New York Counties
New York State Local Laws
The attached chart provides a sample of New York localities that have passed smoke-free legislation surpassing the standards set by the current state Clean Indoor Air Act. Most, including Erie, Monroe, Wayne and Suffolk counties, have implemented legislation that prohibits any smoking in worksites and restaurant dining areas except in fully enclosed and separately ventilated spaces.
Laws Nationwide
Because of concerns about the negative health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke, many states and hundreds of localities have laws that prohibit smoking in public places.
Statewide laws include provisions for:
• Restaurants: Utah, Maine and Vermont completely prohibit smoking in restaurants and California bans smoking in both restaurants and taverns.
• Private-Sector Work Sites: California, Washington and Maryland prohibit smoking in all worksites except in separately ventilated rooms.
• Government Work Sites: Two states either ban smoking or require separately ventilated areas; and 11 completely ban smoking.
Join the Fight for Smoke-Free Public Places in New York State
Smoking is a choice, but breathing is not. We all deserve the right to clean air where we work and in all public places. There are a number of simple actions that you can take right now to help in the battle to restrict smoking in these environments.
• Insist on your legal right to a smoke-free workplace.
• Patronize only smoke-free facilities and let them know the reason behind your choice.
• Don’t suffer in silence! If secondhand smoke makes you uncomfortable or drives you out of a public place, let the management of the facility know why they are losing your patronage.
• Write or call your local and state government officials to let them know that you favor smoke-free legislation for public places and all workplaces. For more information on who your government officials are, please visit www.statelocalgov.net and click on New York State.
