Statewide Fire Prevention Code; consumer fireworks, penalties.

Statewide Fire Prevention Code; State Fire Marshal; consumer fireworks; penalties. Authorizes the use of consumer fireworks in the Commonwealth and distinguishes by definition consumer fireworks from display fireworks and permissible fireworks. The bill provides that the storage and transportation of consumer fireworks are to be considered the same hazard class as the storage and transportation of 1.4G explosives under the Statewide Fire Prevention Code (SFPC) and Uniform Statewide Building Code. The bill requires any locality authorizing the sale of consumer fireworks to require annual permits for any business offering consumer fireworks for retail sale and provides that the State Fire Marshal or other issuing authority may charge a fee for the retail sale of fireworks on a permanent basis or on a temporary basis in localities that do not employ a local fire marshal. The bill excludes from the provisions of the SFPC, unless prohibited by a local ordinance, (i) the sale of consumer or permissible fireworks; (ii) any person using, igniting, or exploding consumer or permissible fireworks on private property with the consent of the owner of such property; or (iii) such consumer or permissible fireworks when they are being transported from a locality where they were legally obtained to a locality where they are legally permitted. Current law only excludes the sale of permissible fireworks or the use of such fireworks on private property. The bill also directs 13 percent of the sales and use tax revenue generated by the local sales and use tax on the sale of consumer or permissible fireworks to be allocated to a special fund and specifies that, of such 13 percent, 10 percent will be used for providing funding for first responders, as defined in the bill, and three percent will be allocated to the local fire marshal or, for localities that do not appoint a fire marshal, to the State Fire Marshal to be used solely on behalf of the locality that transferred such funds. The bill contains technical amendments and has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.