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An Ordinance of the Allegheny County Council amending the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances, Division 8, entitled "Health Department Regulations," by amending Section 880-2, entitled "Smoking Prohibited," to require that steps be taken to protect the health of employees and the public when present in areas to which the provisions of the County smoke free legislation do not apply.
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WHEREAS, on September 26, 2006, Allegheny County Council enacted a comprehensive smoking ban for public places within Allegheny County; and
WHEREAS, on October 4, 2006, the Chief Executive signed the smoking ban, which will become effective on January 4, 2007, and which is codified at Sections 880-1 through 880-6 of the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances ; and
WHEREAS, upon further consideration of the provisions governing the availability of waivers of the smoking ban for certain fundraising activities, Council has determined that more flexibility is desirable in the process of allowing for waivers for organizations that conduct fundraising events as often as each week; and
WHEREAS, Council therefore has determined that it is desirable to amend the provisions of the smoking ban as they apply to the waiver process;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 880-2.1 of the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances is hereby amended as follows:
§880-2.1. Waivers for Certain Fundraising Activities.
(a) The provisions of §880-2 shall not be applicable in any facility, room, hall, or other regulated area while fundraising activities in which volunteers participate are conducted, provided that:
(1) The entity conducting the fundraiser and the entity for which the funds being raised are nonprofit or charitable organizations;
(2) The fundraising event does not share or have in common space with a regulated area that is not subject to an exemption from the terms of §880-2(a);
(3) Written permission from the owner, lessor, or operator of the facility, room, hall or other area to permit smoking during the fundraiser is obtained and is displayed at the event; and.
(4) The charitable or nonprofit entity submits a written waiver application to the Allegheny County Health Department and forwards a copy of the application to the municipal police department(s) with jurisdiction over the location in which the fundraising event will be held. Such application shall be delivered to the Department by mail or other means at least 21 days before the scheduled start of the fundraising activity and, at a minimum, shall include:
(i) The name of the charitable or nonprofit organization(s) involved;
(ii) An address and telephone number for the charitable or nonprofit organization(s) involved;
(iii) The location, date(s) and time(s) at which the fundraiser will be held;
(iv) A general description of the fundraising activities to be conducted;
(5) The entity receives a written waiver from the Health Department, as follows:
(i) The Department may require that applications include any information deemed pertinent to the identification of the entity applying for a waiver under the terms of this section. The Department may also designate the form of the application and establish written application guidelines. The Department shall issue a written approval or denial of all applications no later than seven days before the scheduled state date for the event to which the application applies, and shall develop a system, policies and procedures for tracking the issuance of all approvals or denials.
(ii) The Department may disapprove an application only if it finds that an applicant does not meet one or more of the requirements of this section. The Department shall provide written notices of all denials that include the specific reason(s) for which any application was not approved.
(iii) In the event that the Department does not issue either an approval or denial of any application within the deadlines prescribed by this section, the application shall be deemed approved.
(6) The entity displays the relevant waiver at the event to which it applies, and provides a copy to the municipal police department(s) with jurisdiction over the location in which the fundraising event will be held.
(7) The entity has received no more than 12 50 waivers in any calendar year. Single applications may be submitted for multiple events at the discretion of and subject to any regulations imposed by the Health Department.
(8) Minors are not permitted to attend the event.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "fundraising activities" shall be construed broadly to include any and all activities intended to raise funds or other tangible benefits, including but not limited to in-kind services, for nonprofit or charitable entities.
SECTION 2. Severability.
If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.