STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2603

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2183

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2183 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREWORKS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Specify requirements for fireworks shippers;

(2) Authorize the use, by permit, of fireworks for film and movie productions;

(3) Authorize the testing, disposal, and destruction of illegal and unwanted fireworks by an authority having jurisdiction, which shall be an agency responsible for enforcing the Fireworks Control Law; and

(4) Correct labeling dimensions with regard to display fireworks.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Fire Council; Honolulu Fire Department; County of Maui, Department of Fire and Public Safety; and American Promotional Events, Inc.

Your Committee finds that existing law requires licensed importers, wholesalers, or retailers to notify the appropriate county fire department when shipping fireworks. This measure adds another safeguard for fireworks transportation by requiring shippers to notify the appropriate county fire departments when fireworks are transported into and within the State. Your Committee further finds that this measure adds two reasonable exceptions to the fireworks prohibitions, for movie productions and appropriate county authorities, and changes the labeling size for display fireworks, pyrotechnic articles, or aerial devices, which is consistent with nationally recognized standards.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the exception to the fireworks prohibition authorizing the testing, disposal, and destruction of illegal and unwanted fireworks applies to an authority having jurisdiction as determined by each county, as appropriate;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2183, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2183, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair