Jeremy Pelzer
cleveland.com
(MCT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohioans can finally set off consumer-grade fireworks legally in the state starting next Fourth of July weekend, under legislation signed into law Monday by Gov. Mike DeWine.
House Bill 172will eliminate a long-standing and long-ignored law that let peoplebuymost forms of common or “consumer” fireworks — firecrackers and bottle rockets — in Ohio but required them to take those fireworks out of the state within 48 hours. The law comes after lawmakers tried unsuccessfully for several legislative sessions to change the old rules.
However, the new law only allows such fireworks to be set off on the days around July 4, Diwali and New Year’s Eve, over Memorial and Labor Day weekends, and on New Year’s Day, Juneteenth, Cinco De Mayo and Lunar New Year. Local governments can also ban fireworks or designate when it’s OK to shoot them off.
It will also be illegal to use fireworks while drinking alcohol, using controlled substances or setting them off on someone else’s property without permission.
Most parts of HB172, including the new rules for fireworks usage, take effect July 1, 2022. However, one part of the bill takes effect immediately: it allows state officials to prepare to issue licenses to new fireworks manufacturers or wholesale retailers at the start of 2023. Ohio hasn’t issued new licenses for manufacturers and wholesalers since 2001.
The new law will impose a 4-percent fee on fireworks sales, the proceeds of which will go toward firefighter training and increased enforcement of fireworks law. The law also requires fireworks dealers to provide safety glasses to customers free of charge.
该法案将允许increas烟花零售商e the size of their showrooms from 5,000 square feet under current law to 7,500 square feet. Any showrooms larger than 5,000 square feet will now require a sprinkler system that meets specific standards.
The last two provisions seek to fix issues that DeWine raised whenhe vetoed a similarly worded fireworks legalization bill, Senate Bill 113, last July that would have allowed showrooms as large as 10,000 square feet and didn’t include any sprinkler requirements.
In a statement Monday, DeWine, a Greene County Republican, said it was clear that there were enough legislative votes to override his veto. So instead, the governor said, he negotiated with lawmakers to pass a new bill — HB172 — that makes the changes to showroom safety regulations that he wanted.
“I appreciate the General Assembly addressing concerns I enumerated in the veto of Senate Bill 113 and incorporating most of them into House Bill 172,” DeWine said.
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