CHAPTER 142D
SMOKEFREE AIR ACT

  142D.1  Title — findings — purpose.
  1.  This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Smokefree Air Act”.
  2.  The general assembly finds that environmental tobacco smoke causes and exacerbates disease in nonsmoking adults and children. These findings are sufficient to warrant measures that regulate smoking in public places, places of employment, and outdoor areas in order to protect the public health and the health of employees.
  3.  The purpose of this chapter is to reduce the level of exposure by the general public and employees to environmental tobacco smoke in order to improve the public health of Iowans.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §1

  142D.2  Definitions.
  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
  1.  “Bar” means an establishment where one may purchase alcoholic beverages, as defined in section 123.3, for consumption on the premises and in which the serving of food is only incidental to the consumption of those beverages.
  2.  “Business” means a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, association, or other business entity, either for-profit or not-for-profit, including retail establishments where goods or services are sold; professional corporations and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering, architectural, or other professional services are delivered; and private clubs.
  3.  “Common area” means a reception area, waiting room, lobby, hallway, restroom, elevator, stairway or stairwell, the common use area of a multiunit residential property, or other area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted.
  4.  “Employee” means a person who is employed by an employer in consideration for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, or a person who provides services to an employer on a voluntary basis.
  5.  “Employer” means a person including a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, association, or other business entity whether for-profit or not-for-profit, including state government and its political subdivisions, that employs the services of one or more individuals as employees.
  6.  “Enclosed area” means all space between a floor and ceiling that is contained on all sides by solid walls or windows, exclusive of doorways, which extend from the floor to the ceiling.
  7.  “Farm tractor” means farm tractor as defined in section 321.1.
  8.  “Farm truck” means a single-unit truck, truck-tractor, tractor, semitrailer, or trailer used by a farmer to transport agricultural, horticultural, dairy, or other farm products, including livestock, produced or finished by the farmer, or to transport any other personal property owned by the farmer, from the farm to market, and to transport property and supplies to the farm of the farmer.
  9.  a.  “Farmer” means any of the following:
  (1)  A person who files schedule F as part of the person’s annual form 1040 or form 1041 filing with the United States internal revenue service, or an employee of such person while the employee is actively engaged in farming.
  (2)  A person who holds an equity position in or who is employed by a business association holding agricultural land where the business association is any of the following:
  (a)  A family farm corporation, authorized farm corporation, family farm limited partnership, limited partnership, family farm limited liability company, authorized limited liability company, family trust, or authorized trust, as provided in chapter 9H.
  (b)  A limited liability partnership as defined in section 486A.101.
  (3)  A natural person related to the person actively engaged in farming as provided in subparagraph (1) or (2) when the person is actively engaged in farming. The natural person must be related as spouse, parent, grandparent, lineal ascendant of a grandparent or a grandparent’s spouse, other lineal descendant of a grandparent or a grandparent’s spouse, or a person acting in a fiduciary capacity for persons so related.
  b.  For purposes of this subsection, “actively engaged in farming” means participating in physical labor on a regular, continuous, and substantial basis, or making day-to-day management decisions, where such participation or decision making is directly related to raising and harvesting crops for feed, food, seed, or fiber, or to the care and feeding of livestock.
  10.  “Health care provider location” means an office or institution providing care or treatment of disease, whether physical, mental, or emotional, or other medical, physiological, or psychological conditions, including but not limited to a hospital as defined in section 135B.1, a long-term care facility, an adult day services program as defined in section 231D.1, clinics, laboratories, and the locations of professionals regulated pursuant to Title IV, subtitle 3, and includes all enclosed areas of the location including waiting rooms, hallways, other common areas, private rooms, semiprivate rooms, and wards within the location.
  11.  “Implement of husbandry” means implement of husbandry as defined in section 321.1.
  12.  “Long-term care facility” means a health care facility as defined in section 135C.1, an elder group home as defined in section 231B.1, or an assisted living program as defined in section 231C.2.
  13.  “Place of employment” means an area under the control of an employer and includes all areas that an employee frequents during the course of employment or volunteering, including but not limited to work areas, private offices, conference and meeting rooms, classrooms, auditoriums, employee lounges and cafeterias, hallways, medical facilities, restrooms, elevators, stairways and stairwells, and vehicles owned, leased, or provided by the employer unless otherwise provided under this chapter. “Place of employment” does not include a private residence, unless the private residence is used as a child care facility, a child care home, or as a health care provider location.
  14.  “Political subdivision” means a city, county, township, or school district.
  15.  “Private club” means an organization, whether or not incorporated, that is the owner, lessee, or occupant of a location used exclusively for club purposes at all times and that meets all of the following criteria:
  a.  Is operated solely for a recreational, fraternal, social, patriotic, political, benevolent, or athletic purpose, but not for pecuniary gain.
  b.  Sells alcoholic beverages only as incidental to its operation.
  c.  Is managed by a board of directors, executive committee, or similar body chosen by the members.
  d.  Has established bylaws or another document to govern its activities.
  e.  Has been granted an exemption from the payment of federal income tax as a club pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §501.
  16.  “Public place” means an enclosed area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, including common areas, and including but not limited to all of the following:
  a.  Financial institutions.
  b.  Restaurants.
  c.  Bars.
  d.  Public and private educational facilities.
  e.  Health care provider locations.
  f.  Hotels and motels.
  g.  Laundromats.
  h.  Public transportation facilities and conveyances under the authority of the state or its political subdivisions, including buses and taxicabs, and including the ticketing, boarding, and waiting areas of these facilities.
  i.  Aquariums, galleries, libraries, and museums.
  j.  Retail food production and marketing establishments.
  k.  Retail service establishments.
  l.  Retail stores.
  m.  Shopping malls.
  n.  Entertainment venues including but not limited to theaters; concert halls; auditoriums and other facilities primarily used for exhibiting motion pictures, stage performances, lectures, musical recitals, and other similar performances; bingo facilities; and indoor arenas including sports arenas.
  o.  Polling places.
  p.  Convention facilities and meeting rooms.
  q.  Public buildings and vehicles owned, leased, or operated by or under the control of the state government or its political subdivisions and including the entirety of the private residence of any state employee any portion of which is open to the public.
  r.  Service lines.
  s.  Private clubs only when being used for a function to which the general public is invited.
  t.  Private residences only when used as a child care facility, a child care home, or health care provider location.
  u.  Child care facilities and child care homes.
  v.  Gambling structures, excursion gambling boats, and racetrack enclosures.
  17.  “Restaurant” means eating establishments, including private and public school cafeterias, which offer food to the public, guests, or employees, including the kitchen and catering facilities in which food is prepared on the premises for serving elsewhere, and including a bar area within a restaurant.
  18.  “Retail tobacco store” means a retail store utilized primarily for the sale of tobacco products and accessories and in which the sale of other products is incidental to the sale of tobacco products.
  19.  “Service line” means an indoor line in which one or more individuals are waiting for or receiving service of any kind, whether or not the service involves the exchange of money.
  20.  “Shopping mall” means an enclosed public walkway or hall area that serves to connect retail or professional establishments.
  21.  “Smoking” means inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or other tobacco product in any manner or in any form. “Smoking” does not include smoking that is associated with a recognized religious ceremony, ritual, or activity, including but not limited to burning of incense.
  22.  “Sports arena” means a sports pavilion, stadium, gymnasium, health spa, boxing arena, swimming pool, roller or ice rink, bowling alley, or other similar place where members of the general public assemble to engage in physical exercise, participate in athletic competition, or witness sports or other events.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §2

  142D.3  Prohibition of smoking — public places, places of employment, and outdoor areas.
  1.  Smoking is prohibited and a person shall not smoke in any of the following:
  a.  Public places.
  b.  All enclosed areas within places of employment including but not limited to work areas, private offices, conference and meeting rooms, classrooms, auditoriums, employee lounges and cafeterias, hallways, medical facilities, restrooms, elevators, stairways and stairwells, and vehicles owned, leased, or provided by the employer unless otherwise provided under this chapter.
  2.  In addition to the prohibitions specified in subsection 1, smoking is prohibited and a person shall not smoke in or on any of the following outdoor areas:
  a.  The seating areas of outdoor sports arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, and other entertainment venues where members of the general public assemble to witness entertainment events.
  b.  Outdoor seating or serving areas of restaurants.
  c.  Public transit stations, platforms, and shelters under the authority of the state or its political subdivisions.
  d.  School grounds, including parking lots, athletic fields, playgrounds, tennis courts, and any other outdoor area under the control of a public or private educational facility, including inside any vehicle located on such school grounds.
  e.  The grounds of any public buildings owned, leased, or operated by or under the control of the state government or its political subdivisions, including the grounds of a private residence of any state employee any portion of which is open to the public with the following exceptions:
  (1)  This paragraph shall not apply to the Iowa state fairgrounds, or fairgrounds as defined in section 174.1.
  (2)  This paragraph shall not apply to institutions administered by the department of corrections, except that smoking on the grounds shall be limited to designated smoking areas.
  (3)  This paragraph shall not apply to facilities of the Iowa national guard as defined in section 29A.1, except that smoking on the grounds shall be limited to designated smoking areas.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §3

  142D.4  Areas where smoking not regulated.
  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, the following areas are exempt from the prohibitions of section 142D.3:
  1.  Private residences, unless used as a child care facility, child care home, or a health care provider location.
  2.  Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are designated as smoking rooms; provided that not more than twenty percent of the rooms of a hotel or motel rented to guests are designated as smoking rooms, all smoking rooms on the same floor are contiguous, and smoke from smoking rooms does not infiltrate into areas in which smoking is otherwise prohibited under this chapter. The status of smoking and nonsmoking rooms shall not be changed, except to provide additional nonsmoking rooms.
  3.  Retail tobacco stores, provided that smoke from these locations does not infiltrate into areas in which smoking is otherwise prohibited under this chapter.
  4.  Private and semiprivate rooms in long-term care facilities, occupied by one or more individuals, all of whom are smokers and have requested in writing to be placed in a room where smoking is permitted, provided that smoke from these locations does not infiltrate into areas in which smoking is otherwise prohibited under this chapter.
  5.  Private clubs that have no employees, except when being used for a function to which the general public is invited, provided that smoke from these locations does not infiltrate into areas in which smoking is otherwise prohibited under this chapter. This exemption shall not apply to any entity that is established for the purpose of avoiding compliance with this chapter.
  6.  Outdoor areas that are places of employment except those areas where smoking is prohibited pursuant to section 142D.3, subsection 2.
  7.  Limousines under private hire; vehicles owned, leased, or provided by a private employer that are for the sole use of the driver and are not used by more than one person in the course of employment either as a driver or passenger; privately owned vehicles not otherwise defined as a place of employment or public place; and cabs of motor trucks or truck tractors if no nonsmoking employees are present.
  8.  An enclosed area within a place of employment or public place that provides a smoking cessation program or a medical or scientific research or therapy program, if smoking is an integral part of the program.
  9.  Farm tractors, farm trucks, and implements of husbandry when being used for their intended purposes.
  10.  Only the gaming floor of a premises licensed pursuant to chapter 99F exclusive of any bar or restaurant located within the gaming floor which is an enclosed area and subject to the prohibitions of section 142D.3.
  11.  The Iowa veterans home.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §4

  142D.5  Declaration of area as nonsmoking.
  1.  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, an owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of an area otherwise exempt from the prohibitions of section 142D.3 may declare the entire area as a nonsmoking place.
  2.  Smoking shall be prohibited in any location of an area declared a nonsmoking place under this section if a sign is posted conforming to the provisions of section 142D.6.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §5

  142D.6  Notice of nonsmoking requirements — posting of signs.
  1.  Notice of the provisions of this chapter shall be provided to all applicants for a business license in this state, to all law enforcement agencies, and to any business required to be registered with the office of the secretary of state.
  2.  All employers subject to the prohibitions of this chapter shall communicate to all existing employees and to all prospective employees upon application for employment the smoking prohibitions prescribed in this chapter.
  3.  The owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area where smoking is prohibited under this chapter shall clearly and conspicuously post in and at every entrance to the public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area, “no smoking” signs or the international “no smoking” symbol. Additionally, a “no smoking” sign or the international “no smoking” symbol shall be placed in every vehicle that constitutes a public place, place of employment, or area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5 under this chapter, visible from the exterior of the vehicle. All signs shall contain the telephone number for reporting complaints and the internet site of the department of public health. The owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of the public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area may use the sample signs provided on the department of public health’s internet site, or may use another sign if the contents of the sign comply with the requirements of this subsection.
  4.  The owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area where smoking is prohibited under this chapter shall remove all ashtrays from these locations.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §6

  142D.7  Nonretaliation — nonwaiver of rights.
  1.  A person or employer shall not discharge, refuse to employ, or in any manner retaliate against an employee, applicant for employment, or customer because that employee, applicant, or customer exercises any rights afforded under this chapter, registers a complaint, or attempts to prosecute a violation of this chapter.
  2.  An employee who works in a location where an employer allows smoking does not waive or surrender any legal rights the employee may have against the employer or any other person.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §7

  142D.8  Enforcement.
  1.  This chapter shall be enforced by the department of public health or the department’s designee. The department of public health shall adopt rules to administer this chapter, including rules regarding enforcement. The department of public health shall provide information regarding the provisions of this chapter and related compliance issues to employers, owners, operators, managers, and other persons having custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area where smoking is prohibited, and the general public via the department’s internet site. The internet site shall include sample signage and the telephone number for reporting complaints. Judicial magistrates shall hear and determine violations of this chapter.
  2.  If a public place is subject to any state or political subdivision inspection process or is under contract with the state or a political subdivision, the person performing the inspection shall assess compliance with the requirements of this chapter and shall report any violations to the department of public health or the department’s designee.
  3.  An owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area regulated under this chapter shall inform persons violating this chapter of the provisions of this chapter.
  4.  An employee or private citizen may bring a legal action to enforce this chapter. Any person may register a complaint under this chapter by filing a complaint with the department of public health or the department’s designee.
  5.  In addition to the remedies provided in this section, the department of public health or the department’s designee or any other person aggrieved by the failure of the owner, operator, manager, or other person having custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area regulated by this chapter to comply with this chapter may seek injunctive relief to enforce this chapter.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §8

  142D.9  Civil penalties.
  1.  A person who smokes in an area where smoking is prohibited pursuant to this chapter shall pay a civil penalty pursuant to section 805.8C, subsection 3, paragraph “a”, for each violation.
  2.  A person who owns, operates, manages, or otherwise has custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area regulated under this chapter and who fails to comply with this chapter shall pay a civil penalty as follows:
  a.  For a first violation, a monetary penalty not to exceed one hundred dollars.
  b.  For a second violation within one year, a monetary penalty not to exceed two hundred dollars.
  c.  For each violation in excess of a second violation within one year, a monetary penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars for each additional violation.
  3.  An employer who discharges or in any manner discriminates against an employee because the employee has made a complaint or has provided information or instituted a legal action under this chapter shall pay a civil penalty of not less than two thousand dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars for each violation.
  4.  In addition to the penalties established in this section, violation of this chapter by a person who owns, operates, manages, or who otherwise has custody or control of a public place, place of employment, area declared a nonsmoking place pursuant to section 142D.5, or outdoor area regulated under this chapter may result in the suspension or revocation of any permit or license issued to the person for the premises on which the violation occurred.
  5.  Violation of this chapter constitutes a public nuisance which may be abated by the department of public health or the department’s designee by restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction, or other means provided by law, and the entity abating the public nuisance may take action to recover the costs of such abatement.
  6.  Each day on which a violation of this chapter occurs is considered a separate and distinct violation.
  7.  Civil penalties paid pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the general fund of the state, unless a local authority as designated by the department in administrative rules is involved in the enforcement, in which case the civil penalties paid shall be deposited in the general fund of the respective city or county.
2008 Acts, ch 1084, §9

Nuisances in general, chapter 657