S.L. 2013-413 (H 74), sec. 23. Regulatory Reform: Outdoor Smoking

This section of 2013’s Regulatory Reform Act directs the Commission for Public Health to amend and clarify the rules implementing the statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. Specifically, the new rules must clarify the definition of “enclosed area,” which determines the parts of a restaurant or bar in which smoking is prohibited. A bar or restaurant is allowed (but not required) to permit smoking in areas that are not enclosed.

G.S. 130A-492 defines enclosed area as “[a]n area with a roof or other overhead covering of any kind and walls or side coverings of any kind, regardless of the presence of openings for ingress and egress, on all sides or on all sides but one.” In the three years that the smoking ban has been in effect, there have been questions about the extent to which an area must be open to the outdoors to fall outside this definition, as well as whether wall or side coverings with openings (such as screens) may be used without rendering an area enclosed. The new legislation states that the intent of the clarifying rules is to ensure consistent interpretation and enforcement of the law throughout the state. 

Update: The Commission for Public Health's proposed rule clarifying the definition of "enclosed area" was published in the North Carolina Register on October 1, 2013. Interested persons may comment on the rule until December 2, 2013. More information is available here, on the Commission's website.

Update 2: On December 3, 2013, the Commission for Public Health adopted this final rule clarifying the definition of "enclosed area." The rule will take effect 30 days after the North Carolina General Assembly convenes for the 2014 short session, unless the General Assembly takes action to disapprove the rule. The 2014 short session will convene at noon on May 14, 2014.