2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 12 - Professions and Occupations
General
Article 28 - Fireworks
§ 12-28-101. Definitions

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Articles pyrotechnic" means pyrotechnic special effects materials and pyrotechnic devices for professional use that are similar to consumer fireworks in chemical composition and construction but are intended for theatrical performances and not intended for consumer use. "Articles pyrotechnic" shall also include pyrotechnic devices meeting the weight limits for consumer fireworks but are not labeled as such and are classified as UN0431 or UN0432 pursuant to 49 CFR 172.101, as amended.

(1.5) "Display fireworks" means large fireworks designed primarily to produce visible or audible effects by combustion, deflagration, or detonation and includes, but is not limited to, salutes containing more than one hundred thirty milligrams of explosive material, aerial shells containing more than forty grams of pyrotechnic compositions, and other display pieces that exceed the limits of explosive materials for classification as consumer fireworks as defined in 16 CFR 1500.1 to 1500.272 and 16 CFR 1507.1 to 1507.12 and are classified as fireworks UN0333, UN0334, or UN0335 pursuant to 49 CFR 172.101, as amended, and including fused set pieces containing components that exceed fifty milligrams of salute powder.

(1.7) "Display retailer" means a person, including a manufacturer, who is licensed as a display retailer under the provisions of section 12-28-104 and who sells, delivers, consigns, gives, or otherwise furnishes display fireworks or articles pyrotechnic to a person authorized by section 12-28-103 to discharge fireworks in Colorado.

(2) "Exporter" means any person, including a manufacturer, licensed as an exporter under the provisions of section 12-28-104 and who sells, delivers, consigns, gives, or otherwise furnishes fireworks for export outside of the state of Colorado.

(3) (a) "Fireworks" means any composition or device designed to produce a visible or audible effect by combustion, deflagration, or detonation, and that meets the definition of articles pyrotechnic, permissible fireworks, or display fireworks.

(b) "Fireworks" does not include:

(I) Toy caps, party poppers, and items similar to toy caps and party poppers that do not contain more than sixteen milligrams of pyrotechnic composition per item and snappers that do not contain more than one milligram of explosive composition per item;

(II) Highway flares, railroad fusees, ship distress signals, smoke candles, and other emergency signal devices;

(III) Educational rockets and toy propellant device type engines used in such rockets when such rockets are of nonmetallic construction and utilize replaceable engines or model cartridges containing less than two ounces of propellant and when such engines or model cartridges are designed to be ignited by electrical means;

(IV) Fireworks which are used in testing or research by a licensed explosives laboratory.

(3.5) "Fireworks display operator" includes an individual who, by experience and training, has demonstrated the required skill and ability to safely set up and discharge display fireworks.

(4) "Fund" means the fireworks licensing cash fund created in section 12-28-104 (6) (b).

(5) "Governing body" means:

(a) The city council, town council, board of trustees, or other governing body of any city or town, as to the area within the corporate limits of such city or town;

(b) The board of directors of any fire protection district organized pursuant to part 1 of article 1 of title 32, C.R.S., as to the area within the boundaries of such fire protection district; and

(c) The board of county commissioners as to the area within a county outside the corporate limits of any city or town or the boundaries of any fire protection district.

(6) "Local authority" means the duly authorized fire department, police department, or sheriff's department of a local jurisdiction.

(7) "Manufacturer" means any person who manufactures, makes, constructs, or produces fireworks.

(8) (a) "Permissible fireworks" means the following small fireworks devices designed to produce audible or visual effects by combustion, complying with the requirements of the United States consumer product safety commission as set forth in 16 CFR 1500.1 to 1500.272 and 1507.1 to 1507.12, and classified as consumer fireworks UN0336 and UN0337 pursuant to 49 CFR 172.101:

(I) Cylindrical fountains, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed seventy-five grams each for a single tube or, when more than one tube is mounted on a common base, a total pyrotechnic composition of no more than two hundred grams;

(II) Cone fountains, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed fifty grams each for a single cone or, when more than one cone is mounted on a common base, a total pyrotechnic composition of no more than two hundred grams;

(III) Wheels, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed sixty grams for each driver unit or two hundred grams for each complete wheel;

(IV) Ground spinner, a small device containing not more than twenty grams of pyrotechnic composition venting out of an orifice usually in the side of the tube, similar in operation to a wheel, but intended to be placed flat on the ground;

(V) Illuminating torches and colored fire in any form, total pyrotechnic composition not to exceed two hundred grams each;

(VI) Dipped sticks and sparklers, the total pyrotechnic composition of which does not exceed one hundred grams, of which the composition of any chlorate or perchlorate shall not exceed five grams;

(VII) Any of the following that do not contain more than fifty milligrams of explosive composition:

(A) Explosive auto alarms;

(B) Toy propellant devices;

(C) Cigarette loads;

(D) Strike-on-box matches; or

(E) Other trick noise makers;

(VIII) Snake or glow worm pressed pellets of not more than two grams of pyrotechnic composition and packaged in retail packages of not more than twenty-five units;

(IX) Fireworks that are used exclusively for testing or research by a licensed explosives laboratory;

(X) Multiple tube devices with:

(A) Each tube individually attached to a wood or plastic base;

(B) The tubes separated from each other on the base by a distance of at least one-half of one inch;

(C) The effect limited to a shower of sparks to a height of no more than fifteen feet above the ground;

(D) Only one external fuse that causes all of the tubes to function in sequence; and

(E) A total pyrotechnic composition of no more than five hundred grams.

(b) "Permissible fireworks" do not include aerial devices or audible ground devices, including, but not limited to, firecrackers.

(9) "Person" includes an individual, partnership, firm, company, association, corporation, or governmental entity.

(9.5) "Pyrotechnic operator" includes an individual who, by experience and training, has demonstrated the required skill and ability to safely set up and discharge articles of pyrotechnics.

(10) "Retailer" means any person who sells, delivers, consigns, or furnishes permissible fireworks to another person not for resale.

(11) "Storage" means the possession of fireworks for safe custody, where the safekeeping is the principal object of deposit, and not the consumption or sale.

(12) "Wholesaler" means any person, including a manufacturer, who is licensed as a wholesaler under section 12-28-104 and who sells, delivers, consigns, gives, or otherwise furnishes permissible fireworks to a retailer for resale in Colorado.