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Fireworks liability exemption bill adds to confusion of current restrictions
By Tom Sheehan
MADISON - Municipal officials who issue permits for restricted fireworks could not be held liable for injuries or death that may result from use of those products, under a bill approved by a legislative committee last week.
The idea has support from the Wisconsin Towns Association, which compares the provision to a law that grants immunity to local officials who issue liquor licenses. And the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy approved the bill by a 4-1 vote shortly after a public hearing.
Racine Alderman Bob Morrison, who sat on the advisory committee that recommended changes, said he was disappointed.
"They cut about 90 percent of the guts of it," he said, noting recommendations that would have enhanced fines for illegal use of fireworks and aided in prosecution of alleged offenders were stripped. "I'm really disappointed."
"To me, that was just positioning by powerful people," Morrison said. He hopes the Democrats, including Rep. John Lehman, D-Racine, will be able to fight for the changes.
A group that represents fire chiefs throughout the state says Senate Bill 75 would compound problems with Wisconsin's already confusing fireworks laws.
Bloom said the bill is the disappointing result of a year-long study of fireworks laws by a special committee that also had recommended tightening and clarifying laws. Proposals that would have tightened laws never were introduced by legislative leaders who initiated the study, Bloom said.
"Right now, the police hesitate to enforce the law because it's so confusing with the permitting process," Bloom said.
The liability exemption, however, was approved unanimously by the study committee, which included a fire chief as a member, said Gunnar Bergersen, a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Fireworks Association.
"They voted for it. I was absolutely stunned to see them testifying against it," Bergersen said.
The chiefs association initially supported the liability exemption bill at the request of the towns association. That support ended, however, when it became clear other committee proposals would not be introduced as legislation, Bloom said.
"We're not going to sit back while towns or other municipalities give out permits when we can't even enforce the law," Bloom said.
State law now restricts sale and possession of fireworks that "go up or blow up," or just about anything more powerful than caps, snakes and sparklers. Local communities may pass more restrictive laws but not less restrictive laws, which means fireworks laws vary by community.
With few exceptions, restricted fireworks can't be sold to anyone who does not have a permit issued by a head of a municipal government or someone appointed by them, legislative attorneys working for the study committee concluded. Aside from farmers who want to control predatory birds, permits should only be issued to groups that typically put on fireworks displays, such as civic organizations, fair associations and amusement parks.
The law also makes an exception for "a group of resident or non-resident individuals," however, which has left room for interpretation that some town officials and fireworks retailers have taken advantage of, Bloom said. Some fireworks retailers sell at their stores permits signed by local officials, if the customer signs up to become part of an association or group in name, Bloom said. Even those permits only allow fireworks to be used on specific dates at five or six set aside locations throughout the state, but few people heed the restrictions, Bloom said.
"They're (municipal officials) interpreting it, that if they issue a permit, then the customer is signing up to be a member of that group. The fact is they aren't even using that location or date," Bloom said.
Law enforcement officers who testified before the study committee said they had difficulty enforcing fireworks laws for a variety of reasons, including the confusing nature of fireworks laws, said Mary Matthias, a legislative council attorney who worked for the study committee.
Police and fire officials also said the sale of restricted fireworks is difficult to stop because of the popularity of the devices and competing demands for police services, Matthias said.
State Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Powers Lake, said she will introduce bills that would carry through on other committee recommendations that had study committee support but were never introduced.
One of those proposals would ban sales of fireworks from tents or temporary roadside stands. Roadside stands sometimes sell restricted fireworks without permits and can create a potential hazard by setting up in gasoline service station parking lots, Kerkman said. The other proposal would stiffen penalties for violations involving restricted fireworks.
If either of those proposals had strong enough support, they would have been introduced as legislation after the study committee finished its work, Bergersen said.
The committee included members both in favor and against tightening fireworks laws, and a vote taken at any given meeting could have gone either way, Bergersen said.
"There was never any consensus," he said.
Wisconsin's existing fireworks laws are antiquated and were intended to regulate public display fireworks, not consumer fireworks, Bergersen said.
Bergersen admits his definition of consumer fireworks, which includes some firecrackers and bottle rockets, is at odds with current state law.
He said some of those products do fit within the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission definition of fireworks for consumer use, however. In 1976, the commission lowered the permissible charge in firecrackers to no more than 50 milligrams of powder, according to the commission's Web site.
The Wisconsin Fireworks Association also wants fireworks laws clarified and would be willing to support age limits on some fireworks and a ban on fireworks sales from tents, if the state adopts the federal government's definition, Bergersen said.
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