Cigarette or tobacco product retailers: new retail locations and sale of nitrous oxide.

The 600-foot location restriction now applies only to NEW retail locations for smoke shop retailers, rather than to all existing and future smoke shop locations. Existing smoke shops already within 600 feet of a school or daycare are no longer subject to the restriction.

The language 'in existence at the time the smoke shop's license is issued' is removed from the school/daycare center reference, meaning the 600-foot buffer applies to all schools and daycare centers regardless of when they were established, not just those existing at the time of licensing.

A new exemption is added for grocery stores (as defined in Section 113948(e)(3) of the Health and Safety Code). Grocery stores are excluded from the definition of 'retailer' for purposes of this section, and the 600-foot licensing restriction does not apply to new or renewal licenses for grocery stores.

A new provision explicitly exempts the renewal of a license for an existing retailer from the 600-foot location restriction, ensuring that currently operating smoke shops can renew their licenses even if they are within 600 feet of a school or daycare center.

The provision authorizing CDTFA to establish regulations for smoke shop operations, including creating a separate license category with distinct administrative processes and fee rates, is entirely removed from the bill.

New Section 22973.1 amendment (SEC. 4) adds a licensing exception: CDTFA must deny a tobacco retail license if the applicant is a smoke shop located within 600 feet of a school or daycare center (or a greater local radius). This creates a front-end enforcement tool that prevents non-compliant smoke shops from obtaining licenses in the first place, complementing the existing civil penalty and suspension/revocation framework.

Section 22965(e) regulatory authority was narrowed. The old version allowed 'the department or the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration' to establish regulations for smoke shop operations. The new version limits this authority to CDTFA only, removing the State Department of Public Health as a potential rulemaking body.

The bill's stated scope expanded from amending Section 22958 and adding Section 22965 to also amending Section 22973.1 of the Business and Professions Code, reflecting the new licensing denial provision.

The effective date was changed from a dual date of January 1, 2028 and July 1, 2027 to only July 1, 2027, removing the later date entirely.

Local jurisdictions can now only specify a buffer zone radius greater than 600 feet (previously they could specify any 'different' radius, which could have been smaller). This removes local authority to set a shorter distance from schools and day care centers.

The explicit provision stating that a local jurisdiction's specification of a different radius would be a defense to an enforcement action was removed from Section 22965(b).

The bill's short title was changed from 'California Smoke Shop Regulation and Safety Youth Over Smoke Act' to simply 'Youth Over Smoke Act.'

Senator Weber Pierson was added as a co-author of the bill.

The effective date for the 600-foot buffer zone requirement around schools and daycare centers was moved up from January 1, 2028 to July 1, 2027, bringing the restriction into force six months earlier.

Local jurisdictions can now only specify a radius greater than 600 feet, rather than any different radius. This means local governments can no longer set a smaller buffer zone than the state minimum; they can only increase it.

The definition of 'net floor area' was expanded to exclude service station kiosks from the calculation. This means tobacco sales conducted from a gas station kiosk will not count toward the 20% threshold that classifies a retailer as a smoke shop, effectively exempting such kiosks from the bill's restrictions.

The bill was renamed from the 'California Smoke Shop Regulation and Safety Act' to the 'California Smoke Shop Regulation and Safety Youth Over Smoke Act.'