Bill Text: HI SB2093 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Fireworks.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-24 - The committee on PSM deferred the measure. [SB2093 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2093-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2093 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to fireworks.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 2. Chapter 132D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding six new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§132D- Entry for examination; obstructing law
enforcement or fire department operations; penalty. Every officer having police power and
every county fire department officer may, at all reasonable times, and at any
time whatsoever if there is any reasonable ground for suspicion that the conditions
of any license or permit are being violated, without warrant enter into and
upon any licensee or permittee premises and inspect the same and every part
thereof, and any books or records therein, to ascertain whether or not all
conditions of the license or permit and all provisions of this chapter are being
complied with by the licensee or permittee.
If
any officer, or any person called by the officer to the officer's aid, is
threatened with the use of violence, force, or physical interference or
obstacle, or is hindered, obstructed, or prevented by any licensee, permittee,
the licensee's or permittee's employees, or any other person from entering into
the license's or permittee's premises, or whenever any officer is by any
licensee or permittee, the licensee's or permittee's employees, or any other person
opposed, obstructed, or molested in the performance of the officer's duty in
any respect, the licensee, permittee, the licensee's or permittee's employee,
or any other person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Whenever any officer, having demanded admittance into any licensee's or permittee's premises and declared the officer's name and office, is not admitted by the licensee, or permittee, or the person in charge of the premises, it shall be lawful for the officer to forcibly and in any manner to break into and enter the premises.
§132D- Administrative inspections. (a)
The director of law enforcement or any of the director's designees may
make administrative inspections of controlled premises upon presenting
appropriate credentials to the registrant or persons subject to this section or
their agents in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) Inspections shall be at reasonable
times and within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner of controlled
premises and vehicles in which persons licensed or permitted under this chapter
are permitted to hold, store, transport, sell, possess, or otherwise dispose of
any fireworks and articles pyrotechnic to determine if this chapter is being
violated;
(2) The director of law enforcement or
any of the directors designees shall have access to and may copy any and all
records, books, logs, or documents pertaining to the holding, storing,
transporting, selling, processing, or selling of fireworks or articles
pyrotechnic designated under this chapter without a warrant; and
(3) The director of law enforcement or
any of the director's agents may inventory any stock of any fireworks or
articles pyrotechnic designated under this chapter and secure samples or
specimens of any fireworks, or any articles pyrotechnic not seized as evidence
by paying or offering to pay for the sample.
The administrator shall make or cause to be made examinations of samples
secured under this section to determine whether this chapter is being violated.
(b) For purposes of this section,
"controlled premises" means:
(1) Places where persons licensed or
permitted under this chapter are required to keep records; and
(2) Places, including factories,
warehouses, establishments, businesses, storefronts, and conveyances in which
persons licensed under this chapter are permitted to hold, store, transport,
sell, possess, or otherwise dispose or any fireworks and articles pyrotechnic.
§132D- Records of licensees and permittees. (a)
Persons licensed or permitted to hold, store, transport, sell, possess,
or otherwise dispose of any fireworks and articles pyrotechnic shall keep
records and maintain inventories in conformance with the recordkeeping and
inventory requirements of this chapter.
(b) Every licensee and permittee shall keep a
record of all fireworks and articles pyrotechnic received, imported, held,
distributed, sold, possessed, or disposed of, showing the amounts received,
imported, held, distributed, sold, possessed, or disposed of for a period of five
years.
(c) Records shall be maintained separately in a
file, logbook, or electronic data that is readily accessible by the licensee or
permittee.
(d) All records pertaining to the receipt,
importation, storage, distribution, sale, possession, and disposal of fireworks
and articles pyrotechnic shall be produced and made available upon request by
the director of law enforcement or the county fire chiefs, or their designees.
§132D- Mandatory reporting. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law concerning confidentiality to the
contrary, the holder of a license or permit issued under this chapter who, in
the holder's professional or official capacity, has reason to believe that
fireworks or articles pyrotechnic in the holder's inventory have been stolen,
embezzled, or otherwise obtained by fraud or diversion, shall immediately
report the matter verbally to the director of law enforcement and the county
fire chief.
(b) The holder of a license or permit under this
chapter shall submit a written report to the director of law enforcement and
the county fire chief of the county in which the holder of the license or
permit resides or conducts business as soon as practicable following the verbal
report. The written report shall
contain:
(1) The name and address of the
suspected perpetrator, if known;
(2) The nature and extent of the theft,
embezzlement, fraud, or diversion; and
(3) Any other information that the
reporter believes might be helpful or relevant to the investigation of the
theft, embezzlement, fraud, or diversion.
(c) Any person subject to subsection (a), upon
demand of the director of law enforcement or the country fire chief of the
county in which the holder of the license or permit resides or conducts
business, shall provide all information related to the alleged incident of
theft, embezzlement, fraud, or diversion, including but not limited to records,
reports, and any image, film, video, or other electronic medium, that was not
included in the written report submitted pursuant to subsection (b).
(d) This section shall not be construed to
provide a basis for a cause of action against the director of law enforcement
or the country fire chief or their departments.
(e) Any person subject to this section who
knowingly prevents another person from reporting as required by this section,
or who knowingly fails to provide information as required by this section,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
§132D- Disposal of confiscated fireworks. A county fire department or law
enforcement agency that confiscates prohibited fireworks pursuant to
enforcement of this chapter may safely destroy or dispose of the confiscated
fireworks; provided that the law enforcement agency shall retain a sample of
each type of confiscated fireworks for evidentiary purposes.
§132D- Storage and disposal fine. In any administrative, civil, or criminal action, following notice and an opportunity for hearing, the agency or court shall hold liable any party in violation of this chapter and from whom fireworks were confiscated, seized, or otherwise taken into custody by the state or county agency or agencies for the total amount of the costs incurred by the agency or agencies for the storage and disposal of the confiscated or seized fireworks. An administrative, civil, or criminal order to pay a storage and disposal fine may be collected in the same manner as a civil action. An agency or agencies may collect the full amount of the storage and disposal fine together with any costs, interest, and attorney's fees incurred in any action to enforce the order to pay a storage and disposal fine."
SECTION 3. Section 132D-8.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) The department of law enforcement or the
fire department of a county, in which a shipment of fireworks or articles
pyrotechnic has landed and becomes subject to the jurisdiction of the department
of law enforcement or the fire department, shall be allowed to inspect, if
it chooses, any shipment declared on the shipping manifest as fireworks or
articles pyrotechnic[.] or any facility in which fireworks or
articles pyrotechnic are to be stored."
SECTION 4. Section 132D-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§132D-14 Penalty. (a)
Any person:
(1) Importing aerial devices, display fireworks,
or articles pyrotechnic without having a valid license under section 132D-7
shall be guilty of a class C felony;
(2) Purchasing, possessing, setting off, igniting,
or discharging aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic
without a valid permit under sections 132D-10 and 132D-16, or storing, selling,
or possessing aerial devices, display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic
without a valid license under section 132D-7, or allowing an individual to
possess, set off, ignite, discharge, or otherwise cause to explode any
aerial device in violation of section 132D-14.5:
(A) If the total weight of the aerial devices,
display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic is twenty-five pounds or more, shall
be guilty of a class C felony; or
(B) If the total weight of the aerial devices,
display fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic is less than twenty-five pounds,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor;
(3) Who transfers or sells aerial devices, display
fireworks, or articles pyrotechnic to a person who does not have a valid permit
under sections 132D-10 and 132D-16, shall be guilty of a class C felony; and
(4) Who removes or extracts the pyrotechnic
contents from any fireworks or articles pyrotechnic and uses the contents to
construct fireworks, articles pyrotechnic, or a fireworks or articles
pyrotechnic related device shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) or as
otherwise specifically provided for in this chapter, any person violating any
other provision of this chapter, shall be fined [no] not more
than $5,000 for each violation.
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this section, any
person violating section 132D-14.5 shall be fined at least $500 and [no]
not more than $5,000.
(c) The court shall collect the fines imposed in
subsections (a) and (b) for violating this chapter and, of the fines collected,
shall pay twenty per cent to the State and eighty per cent to the county in
which the fine was imposed which shall be expended by the county for law
enforcement purposes.
(d) Notwithstanding any penalty set forth herein, violations of subsection (a)(1) or (3) may be subject to nuisance abatement proceedings provided in part V of chapter 712.
(e) For the purposes of this section, each type
of prohibited fireworks imported, purchased, possessed, ignited, or discharged
shall constitute a separate violation for each unopened case and a separate
violation for each separate firework that is not part of an unopened case."
SECTION 5. Section 132D-20, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) This chapter shall be enforced by each county[.]
or the department of law enforcement.
The counties, the department of law enforcement, or both are
authorized to enforce and administer the provisions of this chapter."
SECTION 6. In accordance with section 9 of article VII of the Hawaii State Constitution and sections 37-91 and 37-93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the legislature has determined that the appropriations contained in Act 164, Regular Session of 2023, and this Act will cause the state general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024-2025 to be exceeded by $ or per cent. This current declaration takes into account general fund appropriations authorized for fiscal year 2024-2025 in Act 164, Regular Session of 2023, and this Act only. The reasons for exceeding the general fund expenditure ceiling are that:
(1) The appropriation made in this Act is necessary to serve the public interest; and
(2) The appropriation made in this Act meets the needs addressed by this Act.
SECTION 7. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,200,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 to carry out the purposes of this Act, including continued operation of the illegal fireworks task force established by Act 67, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, and reimbursement of funds to law enforcement agencies for task-force related law enforcement operations, including law enforcement personnel, overtime and other salary-related payments, charges for fuel, equipment, and storage and disposal of confiscated fireworks.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of law enforcement for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 8. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 9. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 10. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2024.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
DLE; Illegal Fireworks; Task Force; Expenditure Ceiling; Appropriation
Description:
Establishes jurisdiction for the Department of Law Enforcement over enforcement of chapter 132D, HRS, relating to illegal fireworks. Establishes provisions for police and fire officers to enter premises and for the Director of Law Enforcement to inspect premises. Requires license and permit holders to maintain records and report instances of illegality in relation to fireworks. Declares that the general fund expenditure ceiling is exceeded. Makes an appropriation.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
