Int. No. 552
Introduced by Council Members Leffler, Nelson and Warden; also Council Members Foster, Michels and Linares-read and referred to the Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services.
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to requiring that cigarettes sold, offered for sale or manufactured in this city meet fire safety standards.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. The Council finds that the careless use of smoking materials is the leading cause of fire-related death and injury in residential fires in the city and was a contributing cause of the recent deaths of three of the City's firefighters. The Council concurs with the findings of the federal technical study group on cigarette fire safety that it is technically feasible to produce cigarettes which have a significantly reduced propensity to ignite soft household furnishings. The Council finds that this method of reducing cigarette fire-related death and injury is likely to have significant impact on the health and safety of the people of New York City.
The Council further concurs with the findings of the federal technical study group which ordered tests of forty-one experimental cigarettes and found that by varying several properties, cigarettes could be produced which reduce the likelihood of ignition: low tobacco density, small circumference, low paper porosity, and in some cases elimination of a citrate additive to the paper. The Council further concurs that the cigarette extinction test, developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and described in "Test Methods for Quantifying the Propensity of Cigarettes to Ignite Soft Furnishings" (August 1993), is a reliable and repeatable indicator of a cigarette's propensity to ignite soft household furnishings.
The Council hereby determines that it is within the powers of the city to protect the health and safety of the people of New York City by establishing fire safety standards for cigarettes sold in this City. It is not the intent of the Council to diminish in any way the findings and provisions of the Tobacco Product Regulation Act (Local Law 83) of 1997.
§ 2. Title 10 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding thereto a new chapter 4, to read as follows:
CHAPTER 4
FIRE SAFE CIGARETTE ACT
§ 10-401 Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Fire Safe Cigarette Act."
§ 10-402 Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall be defined as follows:
a. "Arm's length transaction" means a sale of a business, in good faith and for valuable consideration, that reflects the fair market value of such business, between an informed and willing buyer and seller where neither is under any compulsion to participate in the transaction, unaffected by any unusual conditions indicating a reasonable possibility that the sale was made for the purpose of permitting the original licensee to avoid the effect of violations of this chapter. The following sale shall be presumed not to be arm's length transactions unless adequate documentation is provided demonstrating that the sale was not conducted, in whole or in part, for the purpose of permitting the original licensee to avoid the effect of violations of this chapter:
(1) a sale between relatives;
(2) a sale between related companies or partners in a business; or
(3) a sale affected by other facts or circumstances that would indicate that the sale is entered into for the primary purpose of permitting the original licensee to avoid the effect of violations of this chapter.
b. "Cigarette" means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco or of any other substance, irrespective of size or shape and whether or not such tobacco is flavored, adulterated or mixed with any other ingredient, the wrapper or cover of which is made of paper or any other substance or material except tobacco.
c. "Fire safe cigarette" means any cigarette that meets the fire safety standards established pursuant to this chapter and any rules promulgated hereunder.
d. "Person" means any corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited partnership, association or other legal entity.
e. "Sell" means to sell, or to offer or agree to do the same.
f. "Wholesale dealer" means any person required to be licensed as a wholesale dealer pursuant to chapter thirteen of title eleven of the administrative code of the city of New York.
§ 10-403 Fire safety standards for cigarettes. The fire department, in consultation with the department of health and the department of consumer affairs, shall promulgate rules establishing fire safety standards for cigarettes sold, offered for sale or manufactured in the city of New York. Such standards shall require, at minimum, that such cigarettes pass the "cigarette extinction" test method prescribed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Special Publication 851, "Test Methods for Quantifying the Propensity of Cigarettes to Ignite Soft Furnishings" (August 1993), under the following conditions:
a) The principal determination of this test is that the cigarette self-extinguishes before it bums its full length, at least 50 percent of the time, with a minimum of 16 tests per cigarette under identical conditions.
b) Such test shall utilize 10 layers of Whatman #2 filter paper as the substrate material.
§ 10-404 Sale of cigarettes that are not certified fire safe cigarettes prohibited. Thirty days after the cigarette fire safety standards required pursuant to section 10-403 of this chapter are promulgated, no wholesale dealer shall sell or offer to sell cigarettes in the city of New York, unless such cigarettes meet such standards and a written certification to that effect has been filed with the fire department.
§ 10-405 Enforcement. The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the fire department, the department of consumer affairs and the department of finance.
§ 10-406 Violations and penalties. a. Any wholesale dealer who knowingly sells cigarettes in violation of this chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars for the first violation and not more than ten thousand dollars for the second violation and all subsequent violations within any two-year period. For purposes of this section, any violation of this chapter by any employee, agent, contractor or other person acting on behalf of or in furtherance of a wholesale dealer's business shall be deemed a violation by such wholesale dealer. For purposes of determining whether a violation is a second or subsequent violation of this chapter, a wholesale dealer shall be deemed liable for violations committed by any person from whom the wholesale dealer acquired the business or who conducted business at the same premises, unless such wholesale dealer provides adequate documentation demonstrating that the wholesale dealer acquired the business through an arm's length transaction.
b. Any person who falsely certifies that any brand of cigarettes meets the standards required pursuant to section 10-403 of this chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than fifty thousand dollars for the first violation and not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars for the second violation and all subsequent violations.
c. Violations of this chapter shall be adjudicated before the environmental control board.
§ 10-407 Report. Not later than twelve months after the effective date of this chapter and each year thereafter, the fire department shall submit a report to the mayor and the city council concerning the administration and enforcement of this chapter.
§ 3. This local law shall take effect 180 days after its enactment into law provided, however, that all actions necessary for its implementation, including the promulgation of rules, shall be taken prior to the effective date.
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Note: Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] to be omitted.