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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7054
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5060
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE SALE AND USE OF NONAERIAL AND
NONEXPLOSIVE CONSUMER FIREWORKS AND SKY LANTERNS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 29-356 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2
As used in this section and sections [29-356] 29-357 to 29-365, 3
inclusive, as amended by this act: 4
(1) "Fireworks" means and includes any combustible or explosive 5
composition, or any substance or combination of substances or article 6
prepared for the purpose of producing a visible or an audible effect by 7
combustion, explosion, deflagration or detonation, and includes blank 8
cartridges, toy pistols, toy cannons, toy canes or toy guns in which 9
explosives are used, [the type of balloons which require fire underneath 10
to propel the same,] firecrackers, torpedoes, skyrockets, Roman candles, 11
Daygo bombs, and any fireworks containing any explosive or 12
flammable compound, or any tablets or other device containing any 13
explosive substance, except that the term "fireworks" shall not include 14
sparklers, [and] fountains, nonexplosive and nonaerial consumer 15
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fireworks, sky lanterns and toy pistols, toy canes, toy guns or other 16
devices in which paper caps manufactured in accordance with the 17
regulations of the United States Interstate Commerce Commission or its 18
successor agency for packing and shipping of toy paper caps are used 19
and toy pistol paper caps manufactured as provided [therein] in such 20
regulations. 21
(2) "Sparklers" means a wire or stick coated with pyrotechnic 22
composition that produces a shower of sparks upon ignition. 23
(3) "Fountain" means any cardboard or heavy paper cone or 24
cylindrical tube containing pyrotechnic mixture that upon ignition 25
produces a shower of colored sparks or smoke. "Fountain" includes, but 26
is not limited to, (A) a spike fountain, which provides a spike for 27
insertion into the ground, (B) a base fountain which has a wooden or 28
plastic base for placing on the ground, or (C) a handle fountain which is 29
a handheld device with a wooden or cardboard handle. 30
(4) "Nonexplosive and nonaerial consumer fireworks" means flitter 31
sparklers, ground spinners and novelties, including, but not limited to, 32
party poppers, novelty smoke devices, snappers and novelty snakes, as 33
such terms are described in American Pyrotechnics Association 34
Standard 87-1A, as amended from time to time. 35
(5) "Sky lantern" means a balloon that requires fire underneath to 36
propel such balloon. 37
Sec. 2. Section 29-357 of the general statutes is repealed and the 38
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 39
(a) (1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, no person, 40
firm or corporation shall offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail or 41
use or explode or possess with intent to sell, use or explode any 42
fireworks. A person who is [sixteen] eighteen years of age or older may 43
offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, purchase, use or possess with 44
intent to sell or use sparklers, [or] fountains, nonexplosive and nonaerial 45
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consumer fireworks or sky lanterns, of not more than one hundred 46
grams of pyrotechnic mixture per item, which are nonexplosive and 47
nonaerial, provided [(1)] (A) such nonexplosive and nonaerial consumer 48
fireworks and sky lanterns may not be offered for sale, exposed for sale, 49
sold at retail, purchased, used or possessed with intent to sell or used in 50
violation of an ordinance adopted pursuant to subdivision (2) of this 51
subsection, (B) such sparklers and fountains do not contain magnesium, 52
except for magnalium or magnesium-aluminum alloy, [(2)] (C) such 53
sparklers [and fountains] containing any chlorate or perchlorate salts do 54
not exceed five grams of composition per item, and [(3)] (D) when more 55
than one fountain is mounted on a common base, the total pyrotechnic 56
composition does not exceed [two] five hundred grams. 57
(2) Any municipality, as defined in section 7-148, may, by vote of its 58
legislative body, adopt an ordinance to prohibit offering for sale, 59
exposing for sale, selling at retail, purchasing, using or possessing with 60
intent to sell or using nonexplosive and nonaerial consumer fireworks 61
or sky lanterns at places of public assembly, which may include, but 62
need not be limited to, public events such as fairs, carnivals, craft shows 63
and music events and municipal, educational or commercial property. 64
(b) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 65
shall adopt [reasonable] regulations, in accordance with the provisions 66
of chapter 54, for the granting of permits for supervised displays of 67
fireworks or for the indoor use of pyrotechnics, sparklers and fountains 68
for special effects by municipalities, fair associations, amusement parks, 69
other organizations or groups of individuals or artisans in pursuit of 70
their trade. Such permit may be issued upon application to said 71
commissioner and after (1) inspection of the site of such display or use 72
by the local fire marshal to determine compliance with the requirements 73
of such regulations, and (2) approval of the chiefs of the police and fire 74
departments, or, if there is no police or fire department, of the first 75
selectman, of the municipality wherein the display is to be held as is 76
provided in this section. No such display shall be handled or fired by 77
any person until such person has been granted a certificate of 78
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competency by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public 79
Protection, in respect to which a fee of two hundred dollars shall be 80
payable to the State Treasurer when issued and which may be renewed 81
every three years upon payment of a fee of one hundred ninety dollars 82
payable to the State Treasurer, provided such certificate may be 83
suspended or revoked by said commissioner at any time for cause. Such 84
certificate of competency shall attest to the fact that such operator is 85
competent to fire a display. Such display shall be of such a character and 86
so located, discharged or fired as in the opinion of the chiefs of the police 87
and fire departments or such selectman, after proper inspection, will not 88
be hazardous to property or endanger any person or persons. In an 89
aerial bomb, no salute, report or maroon may be used that is composed 90
of a formula of chlorate of potash, sulphur, black needle antimony and 91
dark aluminum. Formulas that may be used in a salute, report or 92
maroon are as follows: (A) Perchlorate of potash, black needle antimony 93
and dark aluminum, and (B) perchlorate of potash, dark aluminum and 94
sulphur. No high explosive such as dynamite, fulminate of mercury or 95
other stimulator for detonating shall be used in any aerial bomb or other 96
pyrotechnics. Application for permits shall be made in writing at least 97
fifteen days prior to the date of display, on such notice as the 98
Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection by 99
regulation prescribes, on forms furnished by the commissioner, and a 100
fee of one hundred dollars shall be payable to the State Treasurer with 101
each such application. After such permit has been granted, sales, 102
possession, use and distribution of fireworks for such display shall be 103
lawful for that purpose only. No permit granted [hereunder] pursuant 104
to this section shall be transferable. Any permit issued under the 105
provisions of this section may be suspended or revoked by the 106
Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection or the local 107
fire marshal for violation by the permittee of any provision of the 108
general statutes, any regulation or any ordinance relating to fireworks. 109
(c) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection 110
may grant variations or exemptions from, or approve equivalent or 111
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alternate compliance with, particular provisions of any regulation 112
issued under the provisions of subsection (b) of this section where strict 113
compliance with such provisions would entail practical difficulty or 114
unnecessary hardship or is otherwise adjudged unwarranted, provided 115
any such variation, exemption, approved equivalent or alternate 116
compliance shall, in the opinion of the commissioner, secure the public 117
safety and shall be made in writing. 118
(d) Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this 119
section shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor, except that (1) any 120
person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of subsection (a) of 121
this section by offering for sale, exposing for sale or selling at retail or 122
possessing with intent to sell any fireworks with a value exceeding ten 123
thousand dollars shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor, and (2) any 124
person, firm or corporation violating any provision of subsection (b) of 125
this section or any regulation adopted [thereunder] pursuant to said 126
subsection shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor, except if death or 127
injury results from any such violation, such person, firm or corporation 128
shall be guilty of a class C felony. 129
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 29-356
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 29-357
Statement of Purpose:
To authorize the sale and use by consumers of nonaerial and
nonexplosive consumer fireworks and sky lanterns.
[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.]