House and Senate
move to lower the
boom on fireworks

Proposed restrictions would
allow residents some leeway, and
fall short of an outright ban

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By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

As the state House and Senate move toward some sort of fireworks restriction law, it appears Hawaii residents will still be able to celebrate next New Year's with firecrackers.

The only question is: How big will the bang be?

The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill yesterday that would allow counties to limit the amount of fireworks a person can legally purchase through permits, but would not allow an outright ban.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee took a different approach with a measure that would ban fireworks -- except for cultural or religious events, and not until Jan. 2, 2000.

"In light of the past New Year's that we had -- the intense use of fireworks, just the widespread use of it and the impacts that we had that evening -- I felt we needed to go back and establish some sort of regulatory scheme," said House Judiciary Chairman Paul Oshiro (D, Ewa Beach).

The House bill would allow counties to enact an ordinance that would require fireworks purchasers to get a certificate of usage from the county. The county could charge up to $5 per certificate. Each person would be limited to 1,800 firecrackers or individual fireworks, but counties could set a higher limit.

Oshiro said that would still allow people to buy the long strings of 5,000 firecrackers and some other fireworks.

"Should the counties so choose, they would be able to prohibit the 10,000, the 100,000 and the other long-line fireworks that were commonly on the market this past year," Oshiro said.

If the counties do not pass fireworks ordinances, the current law that places no limit on fireworks purchases would remain in effect.

The House bill addresses the problem of aerial fireworks by making possession of an aerial a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and up to a year in jail.

The bills still must be passed by the House and Senate, and any differences would have to worked out in a committee.

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