By Hamric                                              H.B. No. 890
         76R4244 CAG-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the regulation of fireworks by certain counties;
 1-3     providing a criminal penalty.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 240, Local Government Code,
 1-6     is amended by adding Section 240.9045 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 240.9045.  ADDITIONAL COUNTY REGULATION OF FIREWORKS.
 1-8     (a)  This section applies only to a county that has a population of
 1-9     one million or more and that has a population of 100,000 or more in
1-10     the unincorporated area of the county.
1-11           (b)  In this section, "fireworks" means any composition or
1-12     device designed for entertainment to produce a visible or audible
1-13     effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration, or detonation.
1-14           (c)  This section does not apply to:
1-15                 (1)  toy pistols, toy canes, toy guns, or other devices
1-16     that use paper or plastic caps in sheets, strips, rolls, or
1-17     individual caps  containing not more than an average of 25
1-18     hundredths of a grain of explosive composition for each cap and
1-19     that are packed and shipped according to 49 C.F.R. Part 173 (1996);
1-20                 (2)  model rockets and model rocket motors designed,
1-21     sold, and used for the purpose of propelling recoverable aero
1-22     models;
1-23                 (3)  propelling or expelling charges consisting of a
1-24     mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate;
 2-1                 (4)  novelties and trick noisemakers;
 2-2                 (5)  the sale, at wholesale, of any type of fireworks
 2-3     by a resident manufacturer, distributor, importer, or jobber if the
 2-4     fireworks are intended for shipment directly out of state in
 2-5     accordance with the regulations of the United States Department of
 2-6     Transportation;
 2-7                 (6)  the sale, and use in emergency situations, of
 2-8     pyrotechnic signaling devices or distress signals for marine,
 2-9     aviation, or highway use;
2-10                 (7)  the use of fusee and railway torpedoes by
2-11     railroads;
2-12                 (8)  the sale of blank cartridges for use in radio,
2-13     television, film, or theater productions, for signal or ceremonial
2-14     purposes in athletic events, or for industrial purposes;
2-15                 (9)  the use of any pyrotechnic device by military
2-16     organizations; or
2-17                 (10)  a public fireworks display conducted by a
2-18     licensed pyrotechnic operator.
2-19           (d)  To protect the public health or safety, the
2-20     commissioners court of a county by order may prohibit or otherwise
2-21     regulate the use of fireworks in any part of the unincorporated
2-22     area of the county. This authority is in addition to the county's
2-23     authority to regulate fireworks under Section 240.904.
2-24           (e)  A person selling fireworks in a county that has adopted
2-25     an order under Subsection (d) shall, at every location at which the
2-26     person sells fireworks in the county, provide reasonable notice of
2-27     the order and reasonable notice of any area where the  sale,
 3-1     possession, or use of fireworks is prohibited or regulated under
 3-2     Subsection (d).
 3-3           (f)  A commissioners court that adopts an order under
 3-4     Subsection (d) shall send a copy of the order to the state fire
 3-5     marshal not later than the 30th day after the date the order is
 3-6     adopted.
 3-7           (g)  The state fire marshal shall send a copy of each order
 3-8     received under Subsection (f) to each licensed manufacturer,
 3-9     distributor, and jobber in the affected county not later than the
3-10     30th day after the date the fire marshal receives the order.
3-11           (h)  A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
3-12     violates a prohibition or other regulation established by an order
3-13     adopted under this section.  An offense under this subsection is a
3-14     Class C misdemeanor.
3-15           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-20     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-21     passage, and it is so enacted.