Pursuant to the authority vested in it by NMSA 1978, § 4-37-1 et seq., the Board of Commissioners of Doña Ana County hereby enacts the Doña Ana County Smoke-Free and Vapor-Free Air Ordinance, an ordinance regulating smoking and vaping in order to reduce the effects of secondhand smoke and vapors in public places and places of employment in the unincorporated areas of the County.
The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter, shall be construed as defined in this section:
ASHTRAY Any receptacle for ashes from tobacco and other combustible substances, and for cigar and cigarette butts.
E-CIGARETTE or ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE A product containing or delivering nicotine or another substance intended for human consumption that can be used by a person in any manner for the purpose of inhaling vapor or aerosol from the product, including a device, whether manufactured, distributed, marketed or sold as an e-cigarette, e-cigar, e-pipe, e-hookah or vape pen or under another product name or descriptor.
EMPLOYEE Any person who is compensated directly or indirectly for rendering services and any person who volunteers his or her services.
EMPLOYER Any person or entity, including but not limited to sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, political bodies and not-for-profit entities.
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT Any area under the control of a public or private employer which employees are required to pass through during the course of employment, including, but not limited to, entrances and exits to the place of employment, including a minimum distance of a fifty-foot radius beyond the entrance or exit; work areas; restrooms; conference rooms and classrooms, break rooms and cafeterias; and other common areas. A private residence or home-based business, unless used to provide child or adult care or other similar health care services on the premises, is not a place of employment.
PRIVATE RESIDENCE A single- or multiple-family dwelling unit as defined in Chapter
350, Unified Development Code, of the County Code.
PUBLIC FACILITY or PUBLIC PLACE Any area to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted, including but not limited to County-owned buildings and vehicles, banks, educational facilities, medical providers' offices, laundromats, public transportation facilities, reception areas, restaurants, retail service establishments, food production and grocery establishments, retail stores, theaters; and the entrances and exits leading to and from each such public place, including a minimum distance of a fifty-foot radius beyond each entrance or exit open to the public. A private residence or home-based business, unless used to provide child or adult care or other similar health care services on the premises, is not a public place.
SECONDHAND SMOKE A. Smoke emitted from inhaling from, exhaling from, burning, carrying or holding:
(1) A lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, hookah or pipe; or
(2) Any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, including cannabis; or
B. The aerosol or vapor emitted from inhaling or exhaling or any other use of an e-cigarette.
SMOKING A. Inhaling from, exhaling from, burning, carrying or holding:
(1) A lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, hookah or pipe; or
(2) Any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, including cannabis, whether natural or synthetic; or
B. Any use of an e-cigarette that creates an aerosol or vapor.
VAPING The use of an electronic cigarette.
This chapter is effective within the geographical boundaries of Doña Ana County, excluding incorporated municipalities therein.
In order to reduce pollutants in the air that create health risks and may otherwise impede equal access to members of the public, smoke-free and vapor-free air is mandated in all public places, including the fifty-foot radius from each entrance or exit accessing the public place, including but not limited to the following:
A. County facilities and vehicles, including property and vehicles owned, operated or utilized for County business by County elected officials, employees or their agents.
B. Buses, taxicabs, and other means of public transit.
C. Areas available to and customarily accessed by the public to attend to personal business, including but not limited to offices of attorneys, medical and other health care providers, child and adult care providers, banks, laundromats, retail stores, galleries, museums, libraries, and all common areas leading to and from same, such as elevators, restrooms, lobbies, reception areas, hallways.
D. Restaurants, truck stops, liquor establishments and other food and beverage establishments.
E. Facilities primarily used for exhibiting any motion picture, stage, drama, lecture, musical recital or other similar performance, including convention halls.
F. Sports and recreational arenas, including but not limited to sports pavilions, gymnasiums, health spas, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks, bowling alleys, bingo halls and other similar places where members of the general public assemble either to engage in physical exercise, witness sports events or participate in social recreation.
G. Meeting places of any board, council, commission, committee, including joint committees and subcommittees, of any public entity or agent of any public entity whose meetings are open to the public.
In order to reduce pollutants in the air that create health risks and may otherwise impede equal access to members of the public, employers shall provide smoke-free air as follows:
A. Employers shall prohibit smoking and vaping in all places of employment, and within a minimum distance of at least a fifty-foot radius, from each entrance or exit to said places of employment, unless otherwise excepted from the terms of this chapter.
B. Employers shall adopt a written smoke-free air policy consistent with the terms of this chapter by October 1, 2019. Employers shall communicate said policy to all employees, and provide a copy to each employee who requests a copy.
This chapter regulates smoking and vaping in order to reduce the effects of secondhand smoke and vapors in public places and places of employment; therefore, it does not regulate nor prohibit smoking in private settings such as private residences and home-based businesses, unless used to provide child or adult care or other similar health care services on the premises.
A. Exemption from public places smoking and vaping regulation. Hotel and motel owners, operators, managers and persons otherwise controlling hotels and motels open to the public may permanently designate up to 10% of rooms for use by smoking and vaping guests, provided that such establishments reasonably accommodate employees medically unable to work in non-smoke-free air.
B. Exemption from places of employment smoking and vaping regulation. An exemption is allowed for employers of hotels and motels to be able to hire employees, contractors and agents to work in the areas designated as smoking and vaping rooms, provided that they reasonably accommodate employees medically unable to work in non-smoke-free air.
Public entities owning, operating, managing or otherwise controlling public places and employers owning, operating, managing or otherwise controlling places of employment, and their respective officials, employees and agents, shall not take any adverse action against a member of the public or against an employee, applicant for employment or customer because such member of the public, employee, applicant or customer exercises the right to smoke-free and vapor-free air extended to him or her under this chapter. In the event of a violation alleged to have caused harm, said member of the public, employee, applicant or customer shall have an independent and private cause of action against the violator based on the terms of this chapter.
Should any provision of this chapter be in conflict with a provision of another applicable law or regulation, the stricter provision shall apply, unless preempted by a less restrictive state or federal law.