Changes sought in fireworks limits

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The state House of Representatives wants to reduce the cost of a fireworks permit from $25 to $10, but a Senate committee yesterday headed in the opposite direction, recommending the fee be increased to $50 and limited to one per family.

House Bill 899 Senate Draft 1 would require a permit to buy a maximum of $20 worth of nonaerial common fireworks, in addition to 5,000 firecrackers.

Committee Chairman Cal Kawamoto, D-18th (Waipahu, Crestview, Pearl City), said further restrictions are necessary because some people buy 10 to 15 certificates at a time. And he said many sparklers and fountains create more smoke than firecrackers.

A Honolulu Fire Department official testified in favor of the bill, saying fewer aerial fireworks sold would correlate directly with fewer fireworks-related injuries.

But Richard Botti, a lobbyist with the Legislative Information Services of Hawai'i — which represents several dozen retailers and one supplier of nonaerial fireworks — said existing law does enough to reduce smoke and curtail use of illegal aerial fireworks.

The Senate draft of the bill amounts to an economic ban, he said.

Representatives of the Chinese and Taoist communities, which set off firecrackers as a custom to ward off evil spirits, also testified against the Senate draft, calling it an infringement on constitutionally guaranteed cultural and religious freedoms.

"I believe in constitutional rights, but when (those) rights infringe on other people's rights and on quality of life, then it becomes a problem," Kawamoto said.

Given sharp differences between the legislative bodies, a decision on changes to the fireworks law likely will be resolved in House and Senate conference committee at the end of the legislative session.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.