In an effort to reduce litter, wildfire risk, and ocean pollution from cigarette butts, smoking will be banned on all of California’s state beaches and in state parks under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Starting Jan. 1, it will be illegal to smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes, vaping devices “or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation” on any state beach or in any state park in California. Violators face fines of $25.
Newsom signed the measure, Senate Bill 8, by State Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, late Friday night.
“This bill will provide a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for people, fish and wildlife,” Glazer said Saturday morning.
“Cigarettes are one of the biggest polluters on our beaches,” he added. “They harm people through second-hand smoke and kill fish, which are affected by the tainted trash. Many forest fires have been caused by discarded cigarettes, and this bill can help there too.”
The state Department of Parks and Recreation will be required to put up no-smoking signs at beaches and parks. It owns 340 miles of shoreline — about one third of the entire California coastline — and operates 280 park units that cover 1.4 million acres.
According to data compiled by the California Coastal Commission, which sponsors the annual California Coastal Cleanup, cigarette butts are the most numerous pieces of litter that volunteers find every year during the event.
Since 1989, when detailed records first began, 7.5 million cigarette butts have been collected during the annual cleanup in California, making up 37 percent of all the trash.
Food wrappers and containers, at 11 percent, are a distant second, followed by caps and lids at 9 percent, plastic and paper bags at 7 percent, and cutlery, cups and plates at 5 percent.
Supporters of the bill included the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, the Sierra Club, California Fire Chiefs Association, Heal the Bay, Save Our Shores and other groups. There was no organized opposition.
Former Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed similar bills three times, saying people should be allowed to smoke outdoors in parks.
The counties of San Mateo and San Francisco, along with cities such as Santa Cruz, San Diego, Los Angeles, Huntington Beach, Pasadena, Carson and Davis, all have passed ordinances banning smoking on city and county beaches and in parks.
Meanwhile, a ban on smoking and vaping on beaches in New Jersey, with a $250 fine, took effect this year.
A 2010 study by scientists at San Diego State University found that when one cigarette butt was placed in a liter of water containing freshwater minnows and ocean smelt, half the fish died as a result of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, nicotine and other contaminants that leach out of cigarettes. Biologists also say cigarette waste can choke seabirds, turtles, fish and other wildlife when it is ingested.
Scott St. Blaze, a Los Angeles surfer, bartender and veteran, who led efforts in recent years to pass the smoking ban, said Saturday he is disappointed that Glazer watered down the bill.
The final version contained exceptions for smoking “used in connection with the good faith practice of a religious belief or ceremony,” a loophole requested by Native American groups. And the smoking ban does not apply to people smoking on “paved roadways or parking facilities” at state beaches or parks.
“Passage of this very weak and problematic piece of legislation really won’t make a whole lot of difference,” St. Blaze said.
Glazer’s office did not respond to questions about why he carved out the exemptions. Environmental groups said the overall result will be a step forward, despite the loopholes
“For the main purpose, which is to get smoking off the trails and the beaches, I think it works,” said Kathryn Phillips, executive director of Sierra Club California. “This is definitely an improvement over what we have now. It gives the park system the tools we need to make sure people are not smoking and throwing cigarette butts on the beach.”
Jennifer Savage, a spokeswoman for the Surfrider Foundation, agreed.
“Cigarette butts are gross. They are full of chemicals,” she said. “They are also a risk to wildlife. They are mistaken by birds and fish as food. The potential to make a significant difference here is pretty profound.”
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 overall deaths.
But smoking is on the decrease. In 2017, 14% of Americans — about 1 in 7 — smoke cigarettes. That’s down from 21% in 2005. In California, only 11% of residents smoke, the second-lowest rate of any state, behind only Utah, with 9%, according to the CDC.
After Santa Monica passed a smoking ban on its city beaches in 2009, the number of cigarette butts picked up on the beaches declined by 59 percent in the following three years, said Eben Schwartz, marine debris coordinator for the Coastal Commission in San Francisco.
“Cigarette butts are a significant problem on our beaches,” Schwartz said last month in an interview before the annual coastal cleanup.
He added, “They are incredibly toxic and harmful when they get into the water. Studies have shown that signs on beaches have reduced the number of cigarette butts on those beaches, even without enforcement.”
Newsom on Friday also vetoed AB 1718 by Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, an identical bill, saying it was redundant.