NFA Meets with CPSC; Offers Compromise on Proposed Regulations to Consumer Fireworks

WASHINGTON – The National Fireworks Association (NFA) board yesterday met with Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Commissioners and staff to present the solution that industry should and must support to safeguard consumer fireworks and their safety.

The NFA advocated eliminating the powdered metals ban provision of the CPSC’s proposed regulation and the “ear test” by focusing on pyrotechnic composition weight and other recommendations proposed by the CPSC to determine regulatory compliance.  Pyrotechnic composition weight is a proven and scientific method that can be easily measured and consistently applied to consumer fireworks. 

This proposal has been widely accepted by consumer fireworks industry stakeholders and will remain a constant while news technologies emerge, and industry innovates its products. 

“We want to thank the Commissioners and their staff for taking the time to meet with NFA. After years of advocacy, we believe this is a common sense compromise we can all support,” said Steve Houser, NFA Secretary.“It will keep fireworks safe while giving government regulators a practical way to determine compliance. Ensuring that fireworks remain safe.”

NFA has proposed the following: 

·      Eliminate the metals provision from proposed regulation. Last year, NFA commissioned a third-party test by a DOT-certified explosives lab that showed a burst charge with an allowance of up to 12.5 percent powdered metals would generate less energy than a burst charge created with hybrid powders that already exist and would be compliant under the proposed CPSC regulation of zero powdered metal. This test showed focusing on powdered metals is an incorrect way to measure safety.

·      Eliminate the ear test. The ear test is subjective and is not a proper way to assess the safety of fireworks. The ear test is done by an individual; at an undisclosed location; and under undisclosed conditions that can affect the outcome of the test. Eliminating this test is something all industry stakeholders have agreed on. 

·       Adopt pyrotechnic composition weight limits. Presently the consumer fireworks industry limits pyrotechnic weight of aerial shells to 60 grams. It is an industry accepted standard and serves to increase safety by preventing overly energetic devices from reaching the hands of general consumers. 

“Another primary fault of the ‘metals myth’ is that there is no empirical data that directly correlates metal powder content in consumer firework burst charges to increased injuries or decreased safety,” said Houser. “Further, the NFA has provided the Commission with data showing consumer fireworks could and likely would be manufactured using alternatives to metal powder burst charges that would likely be more dangerous to consumers.”

Houser continued: “The commission has done a good job increasing safety and their own data shows this. But we want them to understand this critical point: The regulation, as proposed, could potentially put more explosive fireworks in the hands of consumers than what are presently available.  That is not the desire of the NFA and surely the APA and the AFSL would agree.”

In comments filed on the proposed rule, both the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) and the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory (AFSL) have offered testimony to the CPSC supporting total pyrotechnic composition weight limits.


“Our proposal is a win for everyone,” concluded Houser.  “Industry and regulators will have certainty with a practical and non-subjective way to determine compliance as opposed to the subjective ear test that regulators have been using.”

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