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Rep. Lilly: 2019 will bring much-needed fireworks reform in Michigan
RELEASE|January 8, 2019

State Rep. Jim Lilly’s measures giving local communities more control over the sale, use and safety of consumer-grade fireworks have been signed into law heading into the new year.

Lilly’s solution helps address the growing problems facing communities since the legalization of fireworks in 2011. His new laws will tighten the requirements for selling consumer-grade fireworks and for operating locations where they are sold, revise the time during which local governments may regulate the use of consumer fireworks, and increase the fine for those violating the time changes.

“Our families and neighbors are demanding that their local communities be given more control over when fireworks can be used, and these new laws are a huge move in the right direction,” said Lilly, of Park Township. “We’re making this change because local governments know what’s in the best interests of their residents when it comes to fireworks rules. What works in one community may not work in another, and there must be more flexibility.”

Local communities will have the power to reduce the number of days on which fireworks can be set off from 30 to 12 if they so choose. The hours for fireworks could also be further limited to reduce late night and early morning use.

Under the bipartisan package, local officials could restrict the use of consumer-grade fireworks except the following days after 11 a.m.:

  • Dec. 31 until 1 a.m. on Jan. 1.
  • Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend until 11:45 p.m.
  • June 29 to July 4, and July 5 if the date falls on a Friday or Saturday, until 11:45 p.m.
  • Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend until 11:45 p.m.

The new law will allow the governor, local fire marshals and the Department of Natural Resources to prohibit the use of consumer fireworks if weather conditions make the activity dangerous to people or property. Lilly’s plan is similar to local or regional burn bans during high winds or drought.

“I’ve heard from residents, law enforcement personnel, local leaders and countless others asking for these reforms,” Lilly said. “In the Legislature, we worked together in a bipartisan fashion to help find a solution that gives communities more control over what happens on their own streets and in their own backyards. That’s exactly how the process of improving our communities should work.”

 

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