SRC-MSY C.S.S.B. 695 78(R)BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research CenterC.S.S.B. 695 By: Janek State Affairs 3/18/2003 Committee Report (Substituted) DIGEST AND PURPOSE Current Texas law allows counties to regulate fireworks in unincorporated areas only during drought conditions. C.S.S.B. 695 authorizes the commissioners court of a county that borders the Gulf of Mexico to regulate the use of aerial fireworks on a beach. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 61.122, Natural Resources Code, by adding Subsection (g) to authorize the commissioners court of a county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or its tidewater limits and adjacent to a county with a population of 3.2 million or more to prohibit, by order, the use or possession of any aerial fireworks on a beach in the unincorporated area of the county. Defines "aerial fireworks" for the purposes of this subsection. SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2003. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE CHANGES SECTION 1. Differs from original by providing that a county must be adjacent to a county with a population of 3.2 million or more in addition to bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or its tidewater limits. Adds fireworks that have a total pyrotechnic composition that does not exceed twenty grams each in weight, fireworks that have an inside tube diameter that does not exceed one-half inch, and fireworks that have rocket sticks securely fastened to the tube to the definition of "aerial fireworks."