Knox-County Democrat Wants to Spoil Your Firework Fun

Sen. Anne Beebe-Center wants to limit celebrations and curtail Mainers’ fun with a bill to reduce the hours allowed for commercial fireworks usage and increase penalties for violations that came up for public comment during a public hearing on Monday.

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“I submitted this legislation on behalf of a constituent of mine, who had reached out because he was frustrated with the amount of fireworks that were constantly going off in my district over the summer. While I am one of countless people who enjoys a good fireworks show, I also understand that there is a time and place for these shows to happen, and there needs to be some guardrails put in place for not only our neighbors peace of mind, but also for everyone’s safety,” said Sen. Beebe-Center.

“While I love a good fireworks show, we need to also be considerate of our neighbors. Some people have pets who may be frightened by fireworks constantly going off. Some of our neighbors may suffer from PTSD, and fireworks may trigger a PTSD response due to the loud explosions,” she added.

Beebe-Center’s bill, LD 1526, aims to impose harsher statewide penalties and restrictions on fireworks usage and was considered by the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

Not a single legislator from either party decided to join Beebe-Center in co-sponsoring the bill.

Under current law, Mainers are only allowed to set off commercial fireworks between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., with a fine of between $50 and $500 for violations.

Beebe-Center proposes to further limit the permissible hours for fireworks usage to between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Additionally, they aim to raise penalties for violations, with fines ranging from $100 to $1,000.

The new restrictions would not apply on July 4, December 31, or the weekends immediately before and after these days.

Individual municipalities, such as cities like Bangor and Portland, already have the ability to ban or reduce firework use. Beebe-Center’s bill would apply uniformly across the state, imposing the same restrictions on remote, rural Mainers in Aroostook County as those living in heavily populated urban and suburban areas.

The Maine Municipal Association testified against the bill, citing the burden that the law would place on municipalities needing to change their noise ordinances to reflect state law.

“Most noise ordinances are established with a 10:00 p.m. cut off and in tourism destinations, the weekend fireworks are often associated with weddings and back yard celebrations that use the twilight period in peak summer hours afforded by the 10:00 p.m. cut off to allow for displays and do not require the use of a commercial operator. A 9:00 p.m. cut off time will make consumer fireworks less likely to be seen, and more likely to shift the consumer market to louder noise impacts,” said the organization.

State Fire Marshal Shawn Esler submitted testimony neither for nor against the bill, arguing that it would be difficult to enforce and place an undue burden on local law enforcement, who would likely be inundated with noise complaints.

“While the Fire Marshal’s Office regulates the sale and use of fireworks across the State, we would have no ability to effectively enforce the changes outlined in LD 1526. This bill would likely impact local law enforcement, State Police, and Sheriff’s Offices responding to noise complaints regarding fireworks in their respective communities,” said Esler.

Given the lack of support from any co-sponsors, the bill does not appear likely to pass into law, but Beebe-Center is a committee chair so may be able to exert pressure behind the scenes to expand the administrative state.