At the October
meeting of the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review
Committee, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH)
announced that it was proposing certain changes in the
administrative rules regarding the Iowa Smokefree Air Act.
These changes
have not gone into effect yet.
Click here for the full text of the proposed changes:
Here is a
brief summary of the highlights of the proposed changes:
“Entrance”
Clarifies that an “entrance” that must have “no smoking”
signs posted does not include a doorway designated for use
as an emergency exit only.
“Grounds
of Any Public Building”
Clarifies that this term includes a sidewalk immediately
adjacent to a county building, but does not include a
sidewalk in the public right-of-way or a driveway
immediately adjacent to the building.
Public
Building
Adds a definition of a public building: “Public building”
means an enclosed area owned, leased, or operated by or
under the control of the state government or its political
subdivisions.”
Duties
Regarding County-Owned Cars
The proposal is to reduce the size requirement for “no
smoking” signs in county vehicles from 24 sq. inches to 9
sq. inches (3”x 3” for example).
Contents of
Complaint
The proposal is to eliminate the requirement that the person
making a complaint shall include their name and contact
information as part of the complaint. This would allow
anonymous complaints to be investigated. This raised much
public concern at the Rules Review Committee meeting. The
IDPH said that this is consistent with the approach taken by
other state agencies.
Notice of
Violation
The proposal is to change the terminology regarding the
notices sent out by IDPH from “written notice of violation”
to read “written notice of potential violation.”