In 2012, the previous legislature passed a law permitting the use of fireworks, but did not set any regulations as to how or under what circumstances fireworks could be used.

The unregulated use of fireworks became one of the greatest sources of complaints from my constituents.

Some complaints were from people who simply found the noise annoying, but many were from people who faced serious emotional or financial issues from the use of fireworks, including people who suffer from PTSD, farmers whose livestock or horses panicked at the sounds, and people who expected to live or vacation in tranquility on a lake, river or ocean and instead felt as if it were the Fourth of July every day.

In response to these complaints, I submitted a bill to put reasonable restrictions on the use of fireworks. Since the lifting of the ban on fireworks was new, I didn’t expect a repeal, but knew something needed to be done. I offered some suggestions, but trusted the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee to use its members’ expertise to develop a workable solution.

The committee put a great deal of time into the matter, trying to reach agreement on restrictions that would be effective and enforceable to address many of the concerns. Preventing the use of fireworks before noon and prohibiting their use whenever the governor issues a proclamation prohibiting outdoor fires were broadly supported.

However, neither of these proposals would fully address the concerns of my constituents. I turned to the Lincoln County District Attorney, who noted that disorderly conduct would ordinarily apply to unreasonable disturbances, but that as written, the law presumes any consumer fireworks use within the prescribed hours is reasonable. We needed to bring good judgment back into the picture.

As amended by the committee, the bill clarifies that the use of fireworks may be considered disorderly conduct, even if the fireworks are used during the prescribed hours. This puts fireworks in the same category of disturbing noises as parties or loud music, and makes the matter of enforcement much easier as it will be up to the discretion of law enforcement officers. The committee voted 11-2 in favor of the bill.

I believe this a really appropriate way of encouraging reasonable behavior with fireworks. When people respect their neighbors, there are no problems. But when there is a consistent and recurring lack of consideration, we turn to law enforcement officers to resolve the conflict, and upon passage of this bill, we will be able to do the same for the noise created by fireworks.

This is a good example of how the legislature can work. My constituents brought me a problem, and through a deliberative process, we came up with a common-sense solution. Most people want to behave responsibly, and if they know they are creating a problem they will stop or try to accommodate others. For those few who don’t show good judgment with respect to fireworks, people will now have somewhere to turn.

As I write this, the bill has passed the Senate and will now go to the House for a vote. If the House approves the bill, it will return to the Senate for a final vote before being sent to Governor LePage.