Committee advances fireworks-control bill, narrows others; adds limited UAV evidence authority with conditions

The House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee on Feb. 6 considered three major fireworks-related measures and voted to move a county-focused enforcement bill forward while deferring an administration alternative for more drafting. The committee also advanced a bill authorizing limited use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recordings for probable cause in fireworks investigations, subject to technical changes.

Attorney General Deputy Trisha Nakamatsu and the Department of Law Enforcement testified in strong support of updated fireworks-control language, saying clearer statutory definitions and a tiered penalty structure would help officers write enforceable citations and help prosecutors secure convictions. "The goal is to give our law enforcement and prosecutors better tools to more effectively enforce our Hawaii fireworks control laws," Nakamatsu said.

Honolulu Police Department representatives supported the bills and told the committee improved definitions would help enforcement after the recent New Year’s Day fireworks incident on Oahu. The department and the Attorney General proposed clarifying amendments to definitions and penalty ranges during the hearing.

HB1483: The committee advanced the bill with technical edits and adopted department-recommended language to preserve lawful industry activities (for example, permitting and inspector definitions); the chair also deferred the effective date to a distant date to allow for further drafting and inserted several technical corrections requested by the Attorney General and the Department of Law Enforcement.

HB1005: The chair said HB1483 and HB1005 were substantially similar; the administration used HB1005 as the base for HB1483. Committee leadership deferred HB1005 and asked that any outstanding industry concerns be raised in the committee considering HB1483.

HB550 (UAV recordings): The committee advanced amendments clarifying that video or photographic recordings made by UAVs may be used to establish probable cause under the fireworks control law but limited the authorized use by inserting the words "or other recordings" and by specifying covered locations to include public parks and easements. The Office of the Public Defender opposed parts of HB550 on Fourth Amendment grounds; the department of police said it supported the measure to strengthen enforcement where statutory language is otherwise hard to apply.

Industry testimony: Hawaii's sole large commercial pyrotechnics firm said the current draft would inadvertently limit lawful activities and requested that the committee preserve permit-based exemptions and explicit language allowing aerial pyrotechnics performed under federal and state permits. The company said it executes most of Hawaii’s legal large displays and asked the committee to reinsert permit language and clarified definitions so the industry would not be unintentionally restricted. The chair asked the firm to submit specific amendment language to the committee and said staff could adjust HB1483 in the next drafting round.

Next steps: Committee staff will prepare amended bill language reflecting the Attorney General and law-enforcement technical proposals and the industry’s requested clarifications. The chair said she would defer HB1005 in favor of working from the colleague-introduced HB1483.

Sections captured in hearing and decision-making: the Attorney General highlighted the need to remove weight-based thresholds for some penalties and to add pyrotechnic composition to a defined list; the chair adopted a number of those technical recommendations.

Lede: The committee advanced HB1483 to strengthen fireworks laws and moved a separate UAV-evidence bill forward while deferring a related administration bill, after testimony from the Attorney General, police and the pyrotechnics industry.

Nut graf: Officials said clearer statutory definitions, a modernized penalty scheme and limited UAV evidence authority would help officers write enforceable citations and deter dangerous illegal fireworks, while the industry asked that permit-based activities remain explicitly protected.

Ending: The committee instructed staff to produce clean bill text with the recommended technical and drafting changes and asked the pyrotechnics firm to submit concrete amendment language.