PA House bill 542

[JwinsPyro]

Good evening all, does anyone know more about this Pennsylvania house bill 542? Supposedly it passed in the PA Senate last night. If it goes further it would ban Display Fireworks from being used in Pennsylvania by anyone other than “Professional Pyrotechnicians” licensed by the PA Dept. of Agriculture. Thoughts??

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Interesting... The bill does say ""DISPLAY FIREWORKS." LARGE FIREWORKS TO BE USED SOLELY BY PROFESSIONAL PYROTECHNICIANS LICENSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE..."

But then it goes on to say, "SECTION 2402. PERMITS. (A) PERMISSIBLE PURPOSES.--DISPLAY FIREWORKS MAY BE POSSESSED AND USED BY A PERSON HOLDING A PERMIT FROM A MUNICIPALITY AT THE DISPLAY COVERED BY THE PERMIT OR WHEN USED AS AUTHORIZED BY A PERMIT FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:..."

None of the 6 provisions that follow cover 4th of July or any other type of celebration. But the section does say you can possess and use "display fireworks" if you have a permit for an "event."

So I suppose if you can show your ATF 54 to someone from the office responsible for granting permits at the local level, and they issue you a permit for your show, you're good to go.

Short of that, it looks like the PA Dept of Agriculture is going to have to establish licensing requirements for people who want to shoot 1.3G fireworks and then start issuing "shooters licenses". Then I would suspect the local permit issuing authority would ask to see that license before they would issue a permit. Sounds like a great money making scheme for everyone involved.

My $0.02.

[esgrillo]

Looks like big changes coming. Certainly a $ grab

[displayfireworks1]

I love how this Department of Agriculture in Pennsylvania took over fireworks in Pennsylvania. Hank Kimball (Green Acres) running pyrotechnics. I have to find time to read the bill introduced. The next thing we need to do is reverse engineer it. Take the members that introduced and sponsored the bill and see what counties they are from. Then look at those districts and see what all pyrotechnic related is in those districts. Then proceed from there. One of those names on that bill sounds familiar with another piece of proposed fireworks legislation.
They are using the two most recent professional fireworks accidents in Pennsylvania as an opportunity to push forward on this to fall in line with other surrounding states. This type of thing did not stop us in Ohio , New York or Texas and will not stop us in Pennsylvania. As long as we are ATF licensed at the Federal level , they can not stop us from purchase, possession or transport. Further in states that have similar legislation I can not find a single instance of aan ATF licensed hobbyist cited for shooting fireworks without a state certification.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

It also will require a mandatory $50 K bond. And bump the tax up on Class C vendors to 12% instead of 6% as well as some heavy "location Permits" for sellers of Class C. Comes down heavy on the "Mom & Pop" brick & mortar stores as well as fees for every tent they put up!!
We don't need any more legislation. My senator -Dave Argyll [R] voted NO on the bill and I already sent a lengthy letter to my local State Representative as well as posting my concern on his Facebook page.
I would encourage all my fellow pyros to get pro-active on this and send an email to your local representative to vote the bill down when it comes to the floor of the House for vote. If no one speaks up, we can't complain about the outcome.
The verbage is very "open to interpretation" and I have had several conversations with fellow pyros about it. If we, whom it would affect, do not see clear definition to the law, what do you think the pin heads in government will do with interpreting it!!! Pennsylvania Beware! The enemy is at our door.

[aerialpyro]

Is the state prevented from regulating sales of fireworks somehow legally? This bill makes violation of it's provisions a felony, which could make continuing to have an ATF license problematic if they were to prosecute anyone. All you guys in PA really need to contact your representatives and get this sorted. Maybe invite all of them to a fireworks show to teach them how it can be handled safely...

[chriskrc]

It also will require a mandatory $50 K bond. And bump the tax up on Class C vendors to 12% instead of 6% as well as some heavy "location Permits" for sellers of Class C. Comes down heavy on the "Mom & Pop" brick & mortar stores as well as fees for every tent they put up!!
We don't need any more legislation. My senator -Dave Argyll [R] voted NO on the bill and I already sent a lengthy letter to my local State Representative as well as posting my concern on his Facebook page.
I would encourage all my fellow pyros to get pro-active on this and send an email to your local representative to vote the bill down when it comes to the floor of the House for vote. If no one speaks up, we can't complain about the outcome.
The verbage is very "open to interpretation" and I have had several conversations with fellow pyros about it. If we, whom it would affect, do not see clear definition to the law, what do you think the pin heads in government will do with interpreting it!!! Pennsylvania Beware! The enemy is at our door.

Agree with you there, all Pennsylvania residents who love pyro need to speak up.

[RalphieJ]

Doing what politicians do best: Picking the low-hanging fruit.

[JoSlicknuts]

Don't waste your time contacting politicians unless your letter contains a large check. Otherwise, you are invisible. More so now than ever....money talks...B.S. walks. A Government agency just lost 80% of it's budget to clean the Great Lakes and regulations preventing polluting the lake have been rescinded. Lake Superior is practically in my back yard and it's a shame to see the neglect it is going to suffer. Point is....they don't care about the general public's desires.....only $$$$$$$$$$$.

[jknepp1954]

JOLICK - you are right to a point - money talks. they (the government) don't give 2 craps about who they run over and ruin loves - it all about the $$$... SAD BUT TRUE!
BTW - the Dept of Agriculture didn't have a clue what was going on until they woke up yesterday morning....so they are also trying to hash this out.

[Niceshellsdude]

Why is PA Dept of Agriculture overseeing fireworks in PA anyhow? They are the agriculture bureaucrats dealing with farm related issues. Seems like the wrong place. You would think state fire marshall should handle this. I guess that's old school PA.

[jknepp1954]

Why is PA Dept of Agriculture overseeing fireworks in PA anyhow? They are the agriculture bureaucrats dealing with farm related issues. Seems like the wrong place. You would think state fire marshall should handle this. I guess that's old school PA.
Long story short - back in Nov 2004 when the law changed to what we have now, they needed someone to handle it. Originally suggested that DEP do it since they handled regs and storage for 1.3 - answer from consumer side - "HELL NO!" So they thought Ag was the least aggressive of agencies - and they already have inspectors for other reasons....

[joewad]

I'm afraid similiar will come to Indiana, current watch dog is states homeland security with more "teeth". Current gotcha for Indiana residents which galls me to no end is for those who buy consumer retail is an additional "safety tax" of 5% on top of a 7% state sales tax. Serious pyros should be buying wholesale anyway but its gotta hurt the family mom and pop shops. Future generations will not get that feeling like we got when we walked into our first fireworks store/stand.