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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 159
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 1422
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING FIREWORK PERMITS AND CERTIFICATES OF
COMPETENCY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 29-357 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 2
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, no person, 3
firm or corporation shall offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail or 4
use or explode or possess with intent to sell, use or explode any 5
fireworks. A person who is sixteen years of age or older may offer for 6
sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, purchase, use or possess with intent to 7
sell or use sparklers or fountains of not more than one hundred grams 8
of pyrotechnic mixture per item, which are nonexplosive and nonaerial, 9
provided (1) such sparklers and fountains do not contain magnesium, 10
except for magnalium or magnesium -aluminum alloy, (2) such 11
sparklers and fountains containing any chlorate or perchlorate salts do 12
not exceed five grams of composition per item, and (3) when more than 13
one fountain is mounted on a common base, the total pyrotechnic 14
composition does not exceed two hundred grams. 15 Raised Bill No. 159
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(b) (1) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public 16
Protection shall adopt reasonable regulations, in accordance with 17
chapter 54, for the granting of permits for supervised displays of 18
fireworks or for the indoor use of pyrotechnics, sparklers and fountains 19
for special effects by municipalities, fair associations, amusement parks, 20
other organizations or groups of individuals or artisans in pursuit of 21
their trade. Such permit may be issued upon application to said 22
commissioner and after [(1)] (A) inspection of the site of such display or 23
use by the local fire marshal to determine compliance with the 24
requirements of such regulations, and [(2)] (B) approval of the chiefs of 25
the police and fire departments, or, if there is no police or fire 26
department, of the first selectman, of the municipality wherein the 27
display is to be held as is provided in this section. No such display shall 28
be handled or fired by any person until such person has been granted a 29
certificate of competency by the Commissioner of Emergency Services 30
and Public Protection, in respect to which a fee of two hundred dollars 31
shall be payable to the State Treasurer when issued and which may be 32
renewed every three years upon payment of a fee of one hundred ninety 33
dollars payable to the State Treasurer, provided such certificate may be 34
suspended or revoked by said commissioner at any time for cause. Such 35
certificate of competency shall attest to the fact that such operator is 36
competent to fire a display. Such display shall be of such a character and 37
so located, discharged or fired as in the opinion of the chiefs of the police 38
and fire departments or such selectman, after proper inspection, will not 39
be hazardous to property or endanger any person or persons. In an 40
aerial bomb, no salute, report or maroon may be used that is composed 41
of a formula of chlorate of potash, sulphur, black needle antimony and 42
dark aluminum. Formulas that may be used in a salute, report or 43
maroon are as follows: [(A)] (i) Perchlorate of potash, black needle 44
antimony and dark aluminum, and [(B)] (ii) perchlorate of potash, dark 45
aluminum and sulphur. No high explosive such as dynamite, fulminate 46
of mercury or other stimulator for detonating shall be used in any aerial 47
bomb or other pyrotechnics. Application for permits shall be made in 48
writing at least fifteen days prior to the date of display, on such notice 49
as the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection by 50 Raised Bill No. 159
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regulation prescribes, on forms furnished by the commissioner, and a 51
fee of one hundred dollars shall be payable to the State Treasurer with 52
each such application. After such permit has been granted, sales, 53
possession, use and distribution of fireworks for such display shall be 54
lawful for that purpose only. No permit granted hereunder shall be 55
transferable. Any permit issued under the provisions of this section may 56
be suspended or revoked by the Commissioner of Emergency Services 57
and Public Protection or the local fire marshal for violation by the 58
permittee of any provision of the general statutes, any regulation or any 59
ordinance relating to fireworks. 60
(2) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 61
shall require an applicant for a certificate of competency pursuant to 62
subdivision (1) of this subsection to submit to a state and national 63
criminal history records check conducted in accordance with section 29-64
17a. 65
(3) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 66
or a local fire marshal may suspend or revoke a permit issued pursuant 67
to subdivision (1) of this subsection for a violation of any provision of 68
sections 29-356 to 29-365, inclusive, any regulation adopted pursuant to 69
this subsection or section 29-357a or 29-359 or any ordinance relating to 70
fireworks. 71
(c) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 72
may grant variations or exemptions from, or approve equivalent or 73
alternate compliance with, particular provisions of any regulation 74
issued under the provisions of subsection (b) of this section where strict 75
compliance with such provisions would entail practical difficulty or 76
unnecessary hardship or is otherwise adjudged unwarranted, provided 77
any such variation, exemption, approved equivalent or alternate 78
compliance shall, in the opinion of the commissioner, secure the public 79
safety and shall be made in writing. 80
(d) Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this 81
section shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor, except that (1) any 82 Raised Bill No. 159
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person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of subsection (a) of 83
this section by offering for sale, exposing for sale or selling at retail or 84
possessing with intent to sell any fireworks with a value exceeding ten 85
thousand dollars shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor, and (2) any 86
person, firm or corporation violating any provision of subsection (b) of 87
this section or any regulation adopted thereunder shall be guilty of a 88
class A misdemeanor, except if death or injury results from any such 89
violation, such person, firm or corporation shall be guilty of a class C 90
felony. 91
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 29-357
Statement of Purpose:
To require applicants for a certificate of competency to undergo a state
and national criminal history records check and allow the
Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection or a local
fire marshal to suspend a fireworks permit for violation of a statute,
regulation or ordinance relating to fireworks.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]