[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of Ashland
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 1-6-1999]
Where conclusive evidence exists that tobacco smoke causes cancer,
respiratory and cardiac disease, negative birth outcomes, irritations
to the eyes, nose and throat; and whereas the harmful effects of tobacco
smoke are not confined to smokers but also cause severe discomfort
and illness to nonsmokers; and whereas environmental tobacco smoke
[hereinafter "E.T.S."], which includes both exhaled smoke and the
side stream smoke from burning cigarettes, causes the death of fifty-three
thousand (53,000) Americans each year; and whereas the Environmental
Protection Agency (1993) had designated environmental tobacco smoke
as a Class A carcinogen similar to radon and asbestos with no known
safe levels of exposure; now, therefore, the Board of Health of the
Town of Ashland recognizes the right to those who wish to breathe
smoke-free air and establishes this regulation to protect and improve
the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoke from public places.
This regulation is promulgated under the authority granted to the
Ashland Board of Health under Massachusetts General Laws 111, Section
31.
For the purpose of this regulation, the following words shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this paragraph:
An enclosed area that is separately vented and under a negative
pressure environment sufficient to prevent tobacco smoke from entering
all non-smoking areas in the building. The ventilation rate in a designated
smoking area shall conform to the current American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (A.S.H.R.A.E.) recommendation
for a smoking lounge, a ventilation rate of a minimum of thirty (30)
cubic feet per minute (cfm), per person based on occupancy of no more
than seven (7) people per one hundred (100) square feet of net occupied
space.
An establishment whose business is devoted to the serving
of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and
in which the serving of food is twenty percent (20%) or less of the
establishment's gross income only incidental to the consumption
of such beverages.
The Board of Health of the Town of Ashland.
Any individual person who performs services for an employer.
An individual person, partnership, association, corporation,
trust, or other organized group of individuals, including the Town
of Ashland or any agency thereof, which utilizes the services of two
(2) or more individual employees.
Any office or entity providing individual care or treatment
of diseases, whether physical, mental or emotional, or other medical,
physiological or psychological conditions including but not limited
to rehabilitation hospitals or other clinics, including weight control
clinics, nursing homes, homes for the aging or chronically ill, laboratories,
offices of any surgeon chiropractor, physical therapist, physician,
dentist and all specialist within these professions.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind including, but not limited to,
an owner, operator, manager, proprietor or person in charge of any
building, establishment, business, or restaurant or retail store,
or the agents or designees of any of the foregoing.
Any building or facility owned or operated by the town, including
school buildings or grounds; any area open to the general public including,
but not limited to, libraries, museums, theaters, auditoriums, indoor
sports arenas and/or recreational facilities, lobbies of inns, hotels,
and motels, educational facilities, shopping malls, public rest rooms,
lobbies, staircases, halls, exits, entrances, elevators accessible
to the public, and licensed child-care locations.
Buses, taxis, and other means of transportation available
to the general public while such means of transportation is operating
within the boundaries of the town including platforms by which such
means of transportation may be accessed.
Any coffee shop, cafeteria, sandwich stand, private or public
school cafeteria, and any eating establishment including but not limited
to an establishment which gives or offers food for sale to the public,
guests, or employees, as well as kitchens in which food is prepared
on the premises to be consumed elsewhere, including catering facilities.
Any establishment whose primary purpose is to sell or offer
for sale to consumers, any goods, wares, merchandise, article or other
things, including supermarkets and grocery stores. "Retail store"
shall not include restaurants as defined herein.
Inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar,
cigarette, pipe, or other tobacco products in any form.
Town of Ashland.
Any enclosed area of a structure or portion thereof at which
two (2) or more employees perform services for their employer but
not including the personal residence of the employer.
Every person having control of premises upon which smoking is
prohibited by and under the authority of this regulation shall conspicuously
display upon the premises "No Smoking" signs or international "No
Smoking" symbol (consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning
cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it). The
sign shall measure eight (8) inches by ten (10) inches.
No person shall smoke nor shall any person having control of the premises upon which smoking is prohibited by this regulation, or the agent or designee of such person, permit a person to smoke in any of the following places as defined herein: health care facilities, public places, public transportation vehicles, restaurants, retail stores, and workplaces except as otherwise provided in § 304-5 of this regulation. Additionally, no person shall smoke in any place in which a sign conforming to the requirements of § 304-3 of this regulation is posted. No person shall remove a sign posted under the authority of § 304-3 of this regulation.
Smoking in a bar shall at the owner's option be prohibited or limited to a room which is enclosed and equipped with adequate ventilation, as defined in § 304-2.
A.Â
Smoking in bar areas of restaurants shall at the owner's option be prohibited or limited to a single designated smoking room which is enclosed and equipped with adequate ventilation, as defined in § 304-2. Upon request from the Board of Health, the employer or owner of a restaurant containing a designated smoking area shall provide proof of adequate ventilation, as defined in § 304-2, from a certified heating, ventilation and air-conditioning engineer.
B.Â
The number of seats in the designated smoking area shall not exceed
twenty-five percent (25%) of the total seating capacity of the restaurant.
C.Â
The configuration of the establishment shall not require non-smoking
dining patrons to pass through any portion of a designated smoking
area.
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 304-5 of this regulation, smoking shall be permitted in the following places and/or circumstances:
A.Â
Private residence, except when used as a licensed child care facility
or health care facility;
B.Â
Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests that are designated
smoking rooms;
C.Â
Hotel and motel conference/meeting rooms and private and public assembly
rooms while these rooms are being used for private functions; and
D.Â
Private or semi-private rooms of nursing homes and long-term facilities,
occupied by one (1) or more patients, all of whom are smokers who
have requested in writing to be placed in rooms where smoking is permitted.
E.Â
Outdoors.
Smoking is permitted in bingo parlors, however a non-smoking
room shall be provided to accommodate at least twenty-five percent
(25%) of the maximum seating capacity.
Nothing in this regulation shall be deemed to amend or repeal
applicable fire, health, or other regulations so as to permit smoking
in areas where it is prohibited by such fire, health or other regulations.
Any person who violates this regulation shall be subject to
a fine in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100) for the first offense,
two hundred dollars ($200) for the second offense and three hundred
dollars ($300) dollars for the third offense or subsequent offense.
A.Â
As an alternative to initiating criminal proceedings, violations
of this regulation may be enforced in the manner provided in M.G.L.
c. 40, Sec. 21d, by the Board or its agents. Any fines imposed under
the provisions of this regulation shall be payable to the Town of
Ashland for such use as the Town may direct.
B.Â
Any citizen who desires to register a complaint under this regulation
may request that the Board of Health initiate enforcement.
If any provision of this regulation is declared invalid or unenforceable,
the other provisions shall not be affected thereby but shall continue
in full force and effect.
[Adopted 12-13-2006]
A.Â
Whereas, "conclusive evidence exists that tobacco smoke causes cancer,
respiratory and cardiac diseases, negative birth outcomes, irritations
to the eyes, nose, and throat; and whereas the harmful effects of
tobacco smoke are not confined to smokers but also cause severe discomfort
and illness to nonsmokers; and whereas environmental tobacco smoke
[hereinafter ETS], which includes both exhaled smoke and the side
stream smoke from burning tobacco products, causes the death of 53,000
Americans each year (McGinnis JM, Foege W, 'Actual Causes of
Death in the United States', JAMA 1993 270:2207-2212); and whereas
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified secondhand smoke
as a known human carcinogen and the International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization also classified
secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (IARC-WHO, 2002)";
B.Â
Whereas, it has been proven that the most widespread preventable
disease is caused by the use of various tobacco products, including,
but not limited to: cigarettes, cigars, pipe smoking;
C.Â
Whereas, the Ashland Board of Health recognizes the fundamental nature
of the equal protection of public health for all under the law, including
the right of those who wish to breathe smoke free air;
D.Â
Now, therefore, the Board of Health of the Town of Ashland, Massachusetts
recognizes the fundamental nature of the equal protection of public
health for all under the law, including the right of those who wish
to breathe smoke-free air, this regulation is established to protect
and improve public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in membership
associations.
This regulation is promulgated under the authority granted to the Ashland Board of Health under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 111, Section 31 that "boards of health may make reasonable health regulations." It is also promulgated pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 270, Section 22(2) (j), which states in part that, "Nothing in this section shall permit smoking in an area in which smoking is or may hereafter be prohibited by law including, without limitation: any other law or ordinance or by-law or any fire, health or safety regulation. Nothing in this section shall preempt further limitation of smoking by the commonwealth or any department, agency or political subdivision of the commonwealth." This regulation is also promulgated under and Chapter 40, Section 21D.
For the purposes of this regulation, the following words shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this paragraph:
The Board of Health for the Town of Ashland, Massachusetts,
its agents and designees.
An individual who has been designated by the owner or operator
of any membership association to be the manager or otherwise in charge
of said membership association.
A space bounded by walls, with or without windows or fenestrations,
continuous from floor to ceiling and enclosed by one or more doors,
including, but not limited to, an office, function room or hallway.
A not-for-profit entity that has been established and operates,
for a charitable, philanthropic, civic, social, benevolent, educational,
religious, athletic, recreation or similar purpose, and is comprised
of members who collectively belong to: (i) a society, organization
or association of a fraternal nature that operates under the lodge
system, and having one or more affiliated chapters or branches incorporated
in any state; or (ii) a corporation organized under Chapter 180; or
(iii) an established religious place of worship or instruction in
the commonwealth whose real or personal property is exempt from taxation;
or (iv) a veterans' organization incorporated or chartered by
the Congress of the United States, or otherwise, having one or more
affiliated chapters by the Congress of the United States, or otherwise,
having one or more affiliated chapters or branches incorporated in
any state. Except for a religious place of worship or instruction,
an entity shall not be a membership association for the purpose of
this definition, unless individual membership containing not less
than full membership costs and benefits is required for all members
of the association for a period of not less than 90 days.
An outdoor area, open to the air at all times and cannot
be enclosed by a wall or side covering. If the outdoor space has a
structure capable of being enclosed by walls or covers, regardless
of the materials or the removable nature of the walls or covers, the
space will be considered enclosed, when the walls or covers are in
place. All outdoor spaces shall be physically separated from an enclosed
work space. If doors, windows, sliding or folding windows or doors
or other fenestrations form any part of the border to the outdoor
space, the openings shall be closed to prevent the migration of smoke
into the enclosed work space. If the windows, sliding or folding windows
or doors or other fenestrations are opened or otherwise do not prevent
the migration of smoke into the work space, the outdoor space shall
be considered an extension of the enclosed work space and subject
to this regulation.
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind, including, but not limited to,
an owner, operator, manager, proprietor or person in charge of any
building, establishment, business, or restaurant or retail store,
or the business agents or designees of any of the foregoing.
The lighting of a cigar, cigarette, pipe or other tobacco
product or possessing a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or other tobacco
or non-tobacco product designed to be combusted and inhaled.
An indoor area, structure or facility or a portion thereof,
at which one or more employees perform a service for compensation
for the employer, other enclosed spaces rented to or otherwise used
by the public; and where the employer has the right or authority to
exercise control over the space.
An enclosed area occupied by an employee during the course
of his employment.
A.Â
Smoking is prohibited in the enclosed areas of membership associations,
also known as "private clubs."
B.Â
It shall be unlawful for any person having control of the premises
upon which smoking is prohibited by this regulation, or the business
agent or designee of such membership association, to permit a violation
of this regulation.
A.Â
Every membership association in which smoking is prohibited by and
under the authority of this regulation shall conspicuously display
so that the signs are clearly visible to all employees, customers,
and visitors while on the premises "No Smoking" signs provided by
the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and available from the
Ashland Board of Health or the international "No Smoking" symbol (consisting
of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a
red circle with a red bar across it) and comparable in size to the
sign provided by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and
available from the Ashland Board of Health.
B.Â
It shall be the responsibility of the establishment to ensure that
the appropriate signage is displayed.
It shall be the responsibility of the membership association,
person having control of the premises, or its business agent to ensure
compliance with all sections of this regulation. Any membership association,
person having control of the premises, or its business agent who violates
any provision of this regulation may be penalized by filing a criminal
complaint at the appropriate venue, or at the Board's discretion,
penalized by non-criminal method of disposition as provided in Massachusetts
General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 21D, in which the violator may receive:
A.Â
First violation: a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00).
B.Â
Second violation within 24 months of the date of the first violation:
a fine of two hundred dollars ($200.00).
C.Â
Three or more violations within 24 months of the current violation,
including the current violation: a fine of three hundred dollars ($300.00).
A.Â
This regulation shall be enforced by the Board of Health and its
designees.
B.Â
Any citizen who desires to register a complaint under this regulation
may request that the Board of Health initiate an investigation.
C.Â
An individual, person, entity or organization subject to the smoking
prohibitions of this regulation shall not discriminate or retaliate
in any manner against a person for making a complaint of a violation
of this regulation or furnishing information concerning a violation,
to a person, entity or organization or to an enforcement authority.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person making a complaint or furnishing
information during any period of work or time of employment, shall
do so only at a time that will not pose an increased threat of harm
to the safety of other persons in or about such place of work or to
the public.
D.Â
All workplaces and other establishments subject to this regulation
are subject to periodic, unannounced inspections.
If any paragraph or provision of this regulation is found to
be illegal or against public policy or unconstitutional, it shall
not affect the legality of any remaining paragraphs or provisions.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing § 304-16 of this regulation, nothing in this regulation shall be deemed to amend or repeal applicable fire, health or other regulations so as to permit smoking in areas where it is prohibited by such fire, health or other regulations.
This regulation shall be effective on January 2, 2007.
