BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1468
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1468 (Calderon) - As Amended: June 15, 2012
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:12-1
Governmental Organization 7-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the sale of specified fireworks between
Christmas and New Year's Day in 2014-15 and 2015-16, permits
limited recovery of specified costs by local governments, and
provides for a two-year fireworks data collection effort to be
funded by voluntary contributions from the fireworks industry.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the State Fire Marshal (SFM) to issue licenses
authorizing the retail sale of those fireworks certified by
the SFM as safe and sane. Fireworks will be allowed to be
sold only from December 26 to January 1 of the following year,
inclusive.
2)Prohibits the issuance of a license unless the charter city,
city, county, city and county or fire protection district
having jurisdiction over the location where the fireworks
would be sold adopts an ordinance or resolution allowing the
sale.
3)States that the provisions regarding the issuance of licenses
shall become inoperative on January 2, 2016, and as of January
1, 2017, be repealed.
4)Establishes a Fireworks Special Data Collection Program and
authorizes acceptance of contributions from the fireworks
industry and federal or private grants.
5)Authorizes, on or before November 1, 2013, the SFM and the
Committee to review, revise and approve a plan developed in
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conjunction with one or more representatives of the fireworks
industry to collect and analyze data pertaining to the sale of
fireworks and related fire, injury and disposal issues.
Requires data to be verified by a university or other
nationally recognized independent survey design expert
selected by one or more representatives of the fireworks
industry and approved by SFM, as specified.
6)Prohibits the sale of fireworks authorized by this bill,
unless by December 31 of the previous year, the SFM, in
consultation with the Committee, determines there are
sufficient funds within the fund to cover the actual and
reasonable costs associated with the data collection program
for that year.
7)States that the provisions regarding the Program and the Fund
shall become inoperative on January 15, 2016, and as of
January 1, 2017, are repealed, unless a later statute deletes
or extends the dates.
8)Authorizes a charter city, city, county, city and county or
fire protection district by adoption of an ordinance or
resolution, to require applicants to pay a fee representing a
pro rata portion of the actual and reasonable costs incurred
on or before January 2, 2016, related to regulation, public
education and public safety.
9)States that the provisions regarding fees and cost recovery
shall become inoperative on July 2, 2016, and as of January 1,
2017, are repealed.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown costs related to the Program (non-state funds), likely
in the range of several hundred thousand dollars. These
activities would be funded by voluntary contributions from the
fireworks industry, and SFM must determine that sufficient
funds are on deposit prior to authorizing the sale of safe and
sane fireworks. This cost estimate includes the costs to the
SFM and the Committee to review and approve a plan to collect
and analyze data on fire, injury, and disposal issues related
to the sale of fireworks, and to determine the amount
necessary to cover costs associated with the data collection
program.
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2)Potential for unknown increased costs to the SFM related to
disposal of illegal fireworks. A 10% increase in illegal
fireworks seizures related to the sale of safe and sane
fireworks around New Year's Eve, would result in increased
costs of about $45,000 (General Fund).
3)Costs to the SFM of approximately $100,000 to issue retail
licenses for the sale of safe and sane fireworks around New
Year's Eve, fully covered by license fees.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The measure is sponsored by American Promotional
Events, Inc. (TNT Fireworks). They note that, over 290
communities throughout the State of California have ordinances
or resolutions allowing the sale and use of safe and sane
Fireworks within their jurisdiction each 4th of July. All of
these jurisdictions, with a few exceptions, restrict the
retail sale of these fireworks to nonprofit, community-based
organizations within their jurisdiction. Currently, there are
over 3,000 nonprofit organizations in these communities who
rely on Safe and Sane Fireworks as their primary source of
funding for the incredible programs they provide in their
communities and who collectively gross in excess of $70
million each 4th of July. According to the author and
sponsor, these nonprofit and community organizations are in
need of additional avenues of funding beyond those which they
currently employ, if they are to continue to meet the critical
needs and programs that they fund in their communities in
these lean economic times.
2)Opposition arguments . The League of California Cities is
opposed because they see this bill as premature given the
ongoing work of the stakeholder working group convened by
Assemblymember Lowenthal. According to the Orange County Fire
Authority, this bill seeks to create additional times of year
during which safe and sane fireworks can be sold. However,
the simple fact is that all fireworks are inherently dangerous
and cause injury. The authority argues this danger cannot be
ameliorated by fees. This bill may have an unsustainable
fiscal impact on fire departments and law enforcement agencies
that already must increase staffing during the holiday
periods. The authority concludes that undue burden and costs
to local agencies will far exceed the permitting fee structure
in this bill.
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3)Background . Existing law, the State Fireworks Law, is a
comprehensive scheme for regulating the use, manufacture,
wholesale, import, export and sale of all classes of
fireworks. The SFM is authorized to license retailers to sell
certified safe and sane fireworks from June 28 to July 6 each
year, unless otherwise prohibited by local ordinance. The law
also grants SFM authority over wholesalers, transporters and
public display operators. The SFM collects license fees for
fireworks licenses.
4)Stakeholder working group . In March 2012, the Chair of the
Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management,
Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal, inaugurated a stakeholder
working group to discuss the full spectrum of issues
associated with fireworks sales, use, and disposal in
California with the objective of crafting and introducing
comprehensive fireworks reform legislation sometime in
2013-2014. The working group aims to tackle issues including
environmental concerns regarding fireworks disposal,
uncertainty of funding options, the need for data on the
safety and cost impacts of fireworks use, and problems with
enforcement. Some of the ideas currently being discussed
include the potential expansion of fireworks sales dates, the
out-of-state resale of seized illegal fireworks, and the
identification of new funding sources to support the
environmentally-responsible disposal of illegal fireworks.
5)Previous legislation . There has been multiple efforts to
authorize the sale of fireworks for the New Year's holiday,
and also to begin the study of fireworks impacts, including:
a) AB 1371 (V. Manuel Perez, 2011) would have allowed New
Year's fireworks sales and authorized local governments to
impose permit fees. The measure failed passage in the
Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization.
b) SB 839 (Calderon), Chapter 563, Statutes of 2007,
revised the penalties for possession and transportation of
dangerous fireworks, and established a fund from the
proceeds for enforcement of dangerous fireworks law. The
measure also requires the SFM to identify and evaluate
methods to capture detailed data relating to fires,
damages, and injuries caused by both dangerous fireworks
and safe and sane fireworks. Those evaluation methods
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include a cost analysis related to capturing and reporting
the data.
c) AB 1295 (Bermudez, 2005) allowed New Year's fire-works
sales and used fee revenues to pay for disposal costs
associated with seized fireworks. The measure was held on
the suspense file of this committee.
d) AB 923 (Chavez, 2005) authorized the sale of fireworks
from December 26 to January 1 and created the State Fire
Marshal Dangerous Fireworks Management Fund for the deposit
of surcharges assessed on the sale of fireworks to pay for
the disposal costs of seized fireworks. The measure failed
passage in the Assembly Committee on Governmental
Organization.
e) AB 2090 (Miller), Chapter 363, Statutes of 1998,
authorized the State Fire Marshal to issue a one-time
retail license to permit the sale of certified fireworks
from 9:00 on December 26, 1999, until midnight of January
1, 2000, in anticipation of the millennial celebration.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081