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• Second-hand smoke debate heating up 

Proposed national building-design rules could require alterations to businesses' indoor smoking areas and increase lawsuits in the Las Vegas Valley -- even if the rules are not adopted locally.

That's according to H.E. "Barney" Burroughs, an indoor air consultant from Georgia and an expert on the issue.

Each local government can choose whether to adopt the rules, but non-smoking patrons could sue casinos and restaurants that choose not to take extra pre- cautions since the technology to improve indoor air quality exists, Burroughs said.

If the bottom line is more important to businesses than their patrons' health, their lack of action could lead to multi-million dollar lawsuits, said Burroughs, past president of the technical group that wrote the rules.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. (ASHRAE) wrote the rules, which are often adopted into building codes. . . .

If passed, the rules would require the addition of barriers between smoking and non-smoking areas, the posting of signs to warn patrons that tobacco smoke may be present in areas where smoking is allowed and increased ventilation in non-smoking areas.

The rules are not only enforceable, but also can be legally interpreted as a standard of care, Burroughs said. . . .

Elia Sterling, an indoor air consultant to the gaming industry, said that the way the proposed rules are written now casinos would be able to make changes to come into compliance. His concern is that while the gaming industry may meet the building code standards, the courts could decide that a higher standard of care should be in place. . . .

Sterling said ASHRAE committee members decided this week at an ASHRAE conference that if businesses that allow smoking add ventilation to those areas, they would be in compliance with the rules.

"It's a very important interpretation for us," Sterling said.

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