HB2953.DOC

SECTION 1. Section 132D-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"§132D-5 General prohibitions. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person [~~without a permit issued under section 132D-10 by a county fire department~~] to:

(1) Remove or extract the pyrotechnic contents from any fireworks;

(2) Throw any ignited fireworks:

(A) From, at, or into a vehicle;

(B) At a person or an animal; and

(3) Set off, ignite, discharge, or otherwise cause to explode any fireworks:

(A) Above the first floor of any building;

(B) In any vehicle;

(D) Within one thousand five hundred feet of the property boundaries of any operating hospital, licensed convalescent home, licensed home for the elderly, nursing home, health care facility, adult residential care homes, zoo, licensed animal shelter, business that sells animals, or licensed animal hospital;

(E) In any school building, or on any school grounds and yards without first obtaining authorization from appropriate school officials;

(F) On any highway, alley, street, sidewalk, or other public way; in any park; on any public beach; in any officially designated forest or wildlife preserve; within fifty feet of a canefield; or within one thousand feet of any building used for public worship [~~during the periods when services are held~~]; and

(G) Within five hundred feet of any hotel, hostel or bed and breakfast establishment."

SECTION 2. Section 132D-8.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (e) and (f) to read as follows:

"(e) No person holding a retailer license to sell consumer fireworks shall be allowed to sell consumer fireworks commonly known as firecrackers in a packet size larger than five thousand individual units. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined no less than $1,000 per violation.

(f) Any person violating subsection (a), (c), or (d) shall be subject to the following for shipments of fireworks or articles pyrotechnic of:

(1) Twenty-five pounds or less gross weight shall be a [~~petty~~] misdemeanor;

(2) Over twenty-five pounds to three hundred pounds gross weight shall be a [~~misdemeanor;~~] class C felony; and

(3) Over three hundred pounds to ten thousand pounds gross weight shall be a class [~~C felony; and~~

~~(4)~~ ~~More than ten thousand pounds gross weight shall be a class~~] B felony."

SECTION 3. Section 132D-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§132D-14 Penalty. (a) Any person:

(1) Importing aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic without having a valid license under section 132D-7 shall be guilty of a class C felony, and shall be fined not less than $10,000 for each violation;

(2) Purchasing, possessing, setting off, igniting, or discharging aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic without a valid permit under sections 132D-10 and 132D-16, or storing, selling, or possessing aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic without a valid license under section 132D-7[:

~~(A)~~ ~~If the total weight of the aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic is twenty-five pounds or more, shall be guilty of a class C felony; or~~

~~(B)~~ ~~If the total weight of the aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic is less than twenty-five pounds, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;~~] shall be guilty of a class C felony.

(3) Who transfers or sells aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic to a person who does not have a valid permit under sections 132D-10 and 132D-16, shall be guilty of a class C felony, and shall be fined not less than $10,000 for each violation; and

(4) Who removes or extracts the pyrotechnic contents from any fireworks or articles pyrotechnic and uses the contents to construct fireworks, articles pyrotechnic, or a fireworks or articles pyrotechnic related device shall be guilty of a [~~misdemeanor~~] class C felony.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) or as otherwise specifically provided for in this chapter, any person violating any other provision of this chapter, shall be fined not more than [~~$2,000~~] $5,000 for each violation.

(c) The court shall collect the fines imposed in subsections (a) and (b) for violating this chapter and of the fines collected shall pay twenty per cent to the State and eighty per cent to the county in which the fine was imposed which shall be expended by the county for law enforcement purposes, including the fireworks hotline program established by section 132D-A."

SECTION 4. Chapter 132D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§132D-A Fireworks hotline program. (a) Each county may establish, through county ordinance, a fireworks hotline program to receive information on violations of this chapter. An informant calling into the fireworks hotline may pass along information of a violation of this chapter anonymously or not.

(b) If the informant chooses to pass along information of a violation of this chapter anonymously, such information shall be transmitted to the police department of the county the informant resides in.

(c) If the informant chooses to file a formal complaint, including photographic evidence of the violation, execution of a sworn affidavit, and agrees to testify against the violator and does testify against the violator if required, the informant becomes eligible for a reward through the fireworks hotline program.

(d) Each county may establish a reward system through their fireworks hotline program."

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2953
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII