The Department requires that the State designate an agency within the State to be responsible for implementing the State law. For the third applicable and all subsequent fiscal years, States will conduct random, unannounced inspections of outlets that represent a probability sample of outlets accessible to youth. The sample must reflect the distribution of the population under age 18 throughout the State and the distribution of outlets throughout the State. Table I depicts the inspection requirements. This method has been found to be effective and efficient.
States are free to use other methods for performing inspections.
However, the Department strongly urges any State that intends to use an alternative method to work with the Department in advance of implementation to show that the method validly measures compliance through random, unannounced inspections, and ensures that the inspection approach will produce the data necessary to determine that the State meets the compliance standard. The State will not be required to conduct targeted inspections of outlets that failed under previously random, unannounced inspections. However, targeted inspections are an appropriate method of controlling youth access to tobacco products and may be considered by the Secretary in making a determination if a State is found to be in substantial compliance with the inspection failure rate. The design of the sampling method scheduled for the third and subsequent fiscal years requires a method for providing a probability sample of outlets accessible to youth. The sample must reflect the distribution of the population under age 18 throughout the State and the distribution of outlets that are accessible to youth throughout the State.