STAND. COM. REP. NO. 278

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 302

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 302 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FIREWORKS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Amend the definition of "cultural";

(2) Prohibit the use of consumer fireworks except for cultural use by permit;

(3) Repeal language in section 132D-3(1), Hawaii Revised Statutes, that generally allows the use of consumer fireworks without a permit on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the Fourth of July;

(4) Make it unlawful to offer, display for sale, sell, or furnish consumer fireworks to any person except for cultural use by permit;

(5) Prohibit the sale of fireworks to a person more than five calendar days before a permitted cultural use;

(6) Impose a fee of twenty-five dollars per permit for the purchase and cultural use of consumer fireworks; and

(7) Impose a statewide limitation on consumer fireworks, except by permit for cultural use.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Fire Council, Animal Interfaith Alliance in Britain, Hawaiian Humane Society, and fourteen individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender, Libertarian Party of Hawaii, Phantom Fireworks, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, TNT Fireworks, and three individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committees find that each New Year's Eve, first responder agencies throughout the State experience high operational tempo from fireworks misuse, with incident call volume occasionally exceeding available resources. The Honolulu Fire Department responded to thirty probable fireworks-related fire calls over a twenty-four-hour period starting on New Year's Eve at 8:00 a.m. This was a thirty per cent increase in firework-related fires compared to the previous year. The thirty fireworks-related fires included two structure fires, one dumpster fire, thirteen rubbish fires, three wildland fires, one vehicle fire, and ten unclassified fires.

Your Committees find that that fireworks are known ignition sources for building fires and wildfires in the State. This measure will address that through its various restrictions on the use and sale of fireworks, thereby protecting the public, property, and the environment.

Your Committees note testimony at the public hearing on this measure that one individual bought one thousand permits which would have allowed the individual to purchase approximately five million firecrackers.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that permits for fireworks for cultural use are limited to no more than five permits per person; and

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2025.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 302, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 302, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair