Northern Mariana Islands Fireworks

Fireworks Generally Prohibited

Generally prohibited. Fireworks may be possessed or used for a public or private display under a permit issued by the Commissioner of Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Government fireworks directly supervised by government authorities, and officially supervised public-celebration displays conducted by recognized government organizations, are also excepted. Narrow statutory exclusions apply to qualifying sparklers, low-charge toy caps, qualifying smoke-producing snakes, model rockets and certain additional incorporated items. There is no general Liberation Day, Flame Tree Arts Festival or other holiday exception.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Under 6 CMC section 3107, no fireworks may be sold, possessed, or used in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands unless a statutory exception applies. "Fireworks" is defined broadly and covers any combustible or explosive composition or article prepared to produce a visible or audible effect by combustion, explosion, deflagration or detonation, including firecrackers, skyrockets, Roman candles, bombs, rockets, wheels, colored fires, fountains, mines and serpents, plus any similar item the Commissioner of Fire and Emergency Medical Services defines as fireworks.

Separately, selling fireworks or firecrackers from any temporary stand located along a street, highway or right of way is prohibited, and no roadside vending of fireworks or firecrackers is allowed anywhere in the Commonwealth.

WHEN FIREWORKS ARE ALLOWED
- Fireworks consigned to the Commonwealth or federal government, which may be discharged only under the direct supervision of the authorities of one of those governments.
- Fireworks authorized for a public or private display by a permit issued by the Commissioner of Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
- An officially supervised and controlled fireworks display sponsored and conducted by a recognized government organization in connection with a public celebration.
- Possession by an employee of the Division of Fish and Wildlife of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources, or of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for control of game birds and animals.
- Possession by a law enforcement officer in the performance of his duties.

ITEMS THE STATUTE DOES NOT TREAT AS FIREWORKS
- Sparklers as defined by the statute: materials that sparkle without dropping hot residue capable of igniting combustible materials, attached to a wire or other noncombustible central support, cylindrical, not more than ten inches long and not more than one-quarter inch in diameter, burning no faster than one inch in ten seconds, and not encased in a container.
- Caps used in toy pistols or other party favors containing .25 grains or less of explosive compound, where the burn rate and explosive force do not exceed an equivalent weight of FFFG black powder, the hand cannot contact the cap when in place, the major explosive force is contained within the housing, there is no visible flame during discharge, no flaming or smoldering after discharge, and the device does not produce enough heat to readily ignite materials it is placed on.
- Snakes or similar smoke-producing material containing not more than 100 grains of combustible substance, with no visible flame during discharge, no after-smoldering, and not enough heat to readily ignite materials placed beneath.
- Model rockets and model rocket motors designed to propel recoverable aero models.
- Items described in ORS 480.127(4), which the statute incorporates by reference.

PENALTIES
Violating any provision of section 3107 is a misdemeanor. On conviction the penalty is a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,500, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. This applies to individuals, firms, partnerships and corporations.

NO HOLIDAY EXCEPTION
Section 3107 contains no Liberation Day, Flame Tree Arts Festival, or other holiday exception. House Bill 22-93, introduced in 2022, would have added permissible consumer-fireworks hours from 9:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve to 1:00 a.m. on New Year's Day, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Chinese New Year's Day, and from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on the Fourth of July. Its official status remains FILED and it never became law. The existence of an organized public display does not create a personal-use exception.

BACKGROUND
The Fireworks Control Act was enacted as Public Law 15-127 on February 5, 2008. Public Law 18-73, effective January 25, 2015, changed the responsible agency and official in section 3107 to the Department and Commissioner of Fire and Emergency Medical Services; it did not create holiday exceptions.