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 Section 29-356 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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 Section 29-357 of the general statutes is repealed and the 35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