Fireworks licenses and permits: criminal convictions: local jurisdictions.

Senator Cabaldon, with principal coauthor Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry, presents a measure that adds new documentary obligations, broadens grounds for license denial or renewal, and formalizes coordination between the State Fire Marshal and local jurisdictions in fireworks regulation. The proposal requires licensees to furnish to the State Fire Marshal documentation of permits or entitlements applicable to fireworks activity, along with evidence of local land-use permissions and information about storage sites for the fireworks. Import/export licensees would also be required to provide notice to the local jurisdiction designated as the destination for shipments. The State Fire Marshal would have authority to deny or revoke licenses for failure to provide the required documentation and to deny renewal for applicants who do not furnish the specified information; the bill also creates a mechanism for the State Fire Marshal to share license copies with local agencies.

A key mechanism is the expansion of eligibility criteria used to deny or renew licenses. In addition to existing grounds, the bill authorizes denial or renewal based on indictment for, or conviction of, a crime punishable by more than one year that is violent or that creates a threat to public safety, articulating two subparts: the imprisonment threshold and the violence/public-safety criterion. The measure ties licensing outcomes to compliance with the new documentary requirements, establishing a direct link between documentation provided and the SFM’s licensing decisions.

The measure adds a new section requiring import or export licensees to notify the local destination jurisdiction of fireworks shipments and a new section detailing the documentation licensees must provide to the State Fire Marshal—permits, local land-use entitlements, and storage-site information—along with a process for local agencies to validate those assertions and to receive copies of licenses. It characterizes the proposal as a state-mandated local program, and it specifies that no state reimbursement is required; local costs may arise from added verification duties and cross-agency coordination. The overall framework contemplates enhanced interagency visibility into licensing, compliance with local permissions, and documentation-driven licensing actions, without specifying timelines or transition procedures in the available text.