In This Section:
Bay Area Charbroiler Rules Declared Done
Big Apple Fat Fight: Round 2
NYC Invites Comments On Proposed IFC-Based Fire Code
Anaheim Utilities Offers Rebate On Thermal Storage Units
Miami Beach To Place Limits On Restaurant Seating
This issue's Economic Report Sponsor: Manitowoc Foodservice Group
Industry Report Sponsor: Server Products
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Bay Area Charbroiler Rules Declared Done
After several workshops, lots of comment and a few public hearings, the San Francisco area's Bay Area Air Quality Management District, or BAAQMD, has said its new rules for charbroiler emissions are done.
As of Jan. 1, 2009, restaurants with a chain-driven charbroiler and buying 500 lbs. of beef or more a week must use a catalytic converter to control exhaust and must register with the district. Stores that can demonstrate they cook 400 lbs. or less on the charbroiler can get an exemption.
Also effective Jan. 1, 2009, any restaurant purchasing 1,000 lbs. per week of beef and installing an underfired charbroiler of 10 sq. ft. or more on or after that date must register and include exhaust controls for the charbroiler. For all other restaurants meeting the applicability criteria, the requirements become effective Jan. 1, 2013. Restaurants that can show they cook less than 800 lbs. per week may apply for an exemption.
In Southern California, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, SCAQMD, said earlier this year that it would adopt whatever rules BAAQMD imposed, so the new rules most likely will affect much of the state.
Questions? E-mail Virginia Lau at vlau@baaqmd.gov or visit the district's web site at www.baaqmd.gov.
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Big Apple Fat Fight: Round 2
New York's year-old fight against obesity is about to enter round two. The city lost part of the fight when an ordinance to force some chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menu boards was challenged in court. A rewritten ordinance, however, recently was vetted at a public hearing and will likely be approved by the city's health department in January.
The issue is still a contentious one. California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently vetoed a similar law there, but a Santa Clara County supervisor is proposing a county-wide calorie-posting ordinance anyway.
Meanwhile, New York City's trans fat ban, also enacted a year ago, has more than 94% of the city's restaurants using cooking fats or oils that contain no or virtually no trans fat. The ban enters its second phase next July, in which baked goods sold in the city may no longer contain trans fat.
NYC Invites Comments On Proposed IFC-Based Fire Code
For the first time in nearly a century, the Fire Department of New York has proposed a complete overhaul of its fire code. The new code is based on the model International Fire Code published by the International Code Council. The model code provides uniform fire safety standard and has been adopted by states and municipalities across the country.
New York's present fire code has about 150 amendments that have been added over the years. By adopting the uniform standards and modifying them to reflect the unique nature of the city, about 100 of those amendments will be incorporated into the basic code.
Public comments on the proposed code can be submitted until Dec. 28, according to FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. Comments can be submitted online. The city plans a public hearing on Dec. 20 at 9:30 a.m. at FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn. For more information on the code revisions, or to submit comments, visit www.nyc.gov/fdny.
Miami Beach To Place Limits On Restaurant Seating
The Miami Beach planning board has approved a new rule that, if passed by the city commission, would limit seating in new restaurants and bars in one of the city's neighborhoods.
Neighborhood activists in the South Point area of the city had pushed for the measure to cut down on noise and disorderly conduct. The new rule would base capacity on the capacity of the building in which the restaurant or bar is housed. A restaurant in a 100-unit apartment building or 100-room hotel, for example, could have no more than 100 seats, with total capacity of 150 people.
The proposed ordinance applies only to new restaurants in the South Pointe area. The planning board approved the rule by a vote of 6-0, but city commissioners have to vote on the measure before it can take effect.
Chicago Charges Two Health Inspectors
In a city that has worked hard to put Al Capone behind it but still jokes openly about dead people showing up on voting day, certain things, well, happen sometimes.
Two former Chicago health inspectors have been charged with taking bribes in exchange for food-handlers certificates. The pair allegedly were paid between $300 and $400 for each food-safety certificate and faked as many as 600 course applications to get the certificates between January 2003 and May '07.
Food handlers are required to pay a $35 fee, take a 15-hour course, and pass a test to earn the food safety and sanitation certificates. The two former health inspectors not only allegedly accepted bribes for the certificates, but asked ten times as much for doctored attendance records and exam results.
The health department is tracking down all the individuals who received the fraudulent certificates to make sure they actually take the required food safety course.
If convicted, the pair could face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.
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