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§ 637.6. Violations, affirmative defenses and penalties

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 35 P.S. Health and SafetyEffective: September 11, 2008

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 35 P.S. Health and Safety (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 3H. Clean Indoor Air Act (Refs & Annos)
Effective: September 11, 2008
35 P.S. § 637.6
§ 637.6. Violations, affirmative defenses and penalties
Currentness
(a) Violations.--It is a violation of this act to do any of the following:
(1) Fail to post a sign as required by section 4.1
(2) Permit smoking in a public place where smoking is prohibited.
(3) Smoke in a public place where smoking is prohibited.
(b) Affirmative defenses.--Any of the following shall be an affirmative defense to a prosecution or imposition of an administrative penalty under this act:
(1) When the violation occurred, the actual control of the public place was not exercised by the owner, operator or manager but by a lessee.
(2) The owner, operator or manager made a good faith effort to prohibit smoking.
(3) The owner, operator or manager asserting the affirmative defense shall do so in the form of a sworn affidavit setting forth the relevant information mentioned under paragraphs (1) and (2).
(c) Commonwealth administrative penalties.--
(1) If the department or a State licensing agency or a county board of health determines that a person has violated subsection (a), the person shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $250.
(2) If the department or a State licensing agency or a county board of health determines that a person has violated subsection (a) within one year of receiving a penalty under paragraph (1), the person shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $500.
(3) If the department or a State licensing agency or a county board of health determines that a person violated subsection (a) within one year of receiving a penalty under paragraph (2), the person shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $1,000.
(4) This subsection is subject to 2 Pa.C.S. (relating to administrative law and procedure).
(5) The penalties collected under this subsection shall be retained by the department or the State licensing agency initiating the enforcement action.
(d) Local administrative penalties.--
(1) If a county board of health determines that a person violated subsection (a), the person shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $250.
(2) If a county board of health determines that a person has violated subsection (a) within one year of receiving a penalty under paragraph (1), the person shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $500.
(3) If a county board of health determines that a person violated subsection (a) within one year of receiving a penalty under paragraph (2), the person shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $1,000.
(4) This subsection is subject to 2 Pa.C.S. Ch. 5 Subch. B2 (relating to practice and procedure of local agencies) and Ch. 7 Subch. B3 (relating to judicial review of local agency action).
(5) The penalties collected under this subsection shall be retained by the county board of health initiating the enforcement action.
(e) Criminal penalties.--
(1) A person that violates this act commits a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $250.
(2) A person that violates this act within one year of being sentenced under paragraph (1) commits a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $500.
(3) A person that violates this act within one year of being sentenced under paragraph (2) commits a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000.
(4) The following apply to actions by law enforcement officers:
(i) Except as set forth in subparagraph (ii), the penalties collected under this subsection shall be retained by the municipality in which the law enforcement agency initiating the enforcement action is located.
(ii) If an enforcement action is initiated by the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania State Police shall retain the penalties collected under this subsection.

Credits

2008, June 13, P.L. 182, No. 27, § 6, effective in 90 days [Sept. 11, 2008].

Footnotes

1
35 P.S. § 637.4.
2
2 Pa.C.S.A. § 551 et seq.
3
2 Pa.C.S.A. § 751 et seq.
35 P.S. § 637.6, PA ST 35 P.S. § 637.6
Current through 2023 Regular Session Act 1. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document