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House substitutes and advances Indoor Clean Air Act amendments after heated debate
Summary
After an extended floor debate over bypassing committee review and potential impacts on small businesses, the Utah House substituted Senate Bill 67 with a new 'Indoor Clean Air Act' and approved the substitute on a 41‑27 vote; sponsor framed the measure as protecting workers from environmental tobacco smoke while opponents said more study is needed.
The Utah House of Representatives on Feb. 16 substituted and advanced a revised version of Senate Bill 67, retitling it the Indoor Clean Air Act and approving the substitution 41‑27 after several hours of debate over procedure, business impacts and public health.
Sponsor Representative Tanner, speaking for the substitute, said the bill would require employers to notify employees that environmental tobacco smoke can harm health and would authorize local health departments to work with businesses to ensure designated smoking areas do not cause 'drift' of smoke into nonsmoking areas. Tanner described technical fixes such as using ventilation systems to establish negative exhaust so that smoke is drawn away from nonsmoking sections, and noted the substitute excludes private clubs, bars, taverns and private residences.
Opponents repeatedly objected to the timing and process for putting the substitute on the floor. Representative Pignanelli and others said the measure had been sent back to rules by the business and labor committee and that substituting it on the floor amounted to…
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