The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued guidance regarding smoke-free policies in public housing. Public housing authorities (PHAs) must implement smoke-free policies within 18 months of issuance of the guidance. Policies must ban the use of prohibited tobacco products in all public housing living units, interior common areas, and outdoor areas within 25 feet of public housing and administrative office buildings. Prohibited tobacco products are items that involve ignition and burning of tobacco including cigarettes, cigars, pipes and water pipes. PHAs have flexibility regarding e-cigarettes, limiting smoking to designated areas, requiring a smoke-free perimeter greater than 25 feet, and requiring an entire campus to be smoke-free.
PHA’s must obtain board approval for their smoke-free policies. PHA must also determine whether adoption of their smoke-free policy is a significant amendment to their PHA plan which requires public meetings.
PHAs must also amend leases. Residents must sign amended leases as a condition of continuing occupancy. The lease amendment must incorporate the requirement that residents, members of the resident’s household, resident’s guests and anyone else under the resident’s control cannot smoke in restricted areas or in other outdoor areas that the PHA designates as smoke-free. PHAs must give residents 60 days notice of the lease amendment and a reasonable amount of time for the resident to accept the amendment.
PHAs are encouraged to adopt graduated enforcement of their smoke-free policy, with termination of tenancy and eviction as a last resort.
PHAs must provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities who smoke. For example, a PHA could move a disabled smoking tenant to a unit near a door to give the tenant easier access to a smoking area. However, HUD policy is addiction to nicotine is not a disability. (PIH Notice 2017-03, February 15, 2017.)