1. (a) Storage. Public display fireworks may be stored temporarily for a period not to exceed 30 days prior to display date in a locked area, in regular 1.3G shipping cartons, not accessible by the general public, and in a location approved by the local fire prevention officer.
2. (b) Sobriety. Pyrotechnic operators or assistants shall not be under the influence or consume alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances during the public display.

3. (c) Public display criteria.

   1. (1) The area selected for the discharge of aerial shells shall be located so that the trajectory of the shells will not come within 25 feet of any overhead object.
   2. (2) Mortars shall be separated from spectator viewing and parking areas; from health care, church, asylum, school, and penal facilities; from storage of hazardous materials; and from residential occupancies by the minimum distances specified in the following table:

4. (d) Pyrotechnic equipment and installation. Reusable mortars shall be made of steel tubing or equivalent (cast iron and other fragmenting types of metal are prohibited) having a smooth bore and a steel bottom plate equal in thickness to the tube welded continuously around its perimeter except as follows:

   1. (1) Wooden base plugs in good condition may be substituted for welded steel bottom plates where such plugs have a minimum thickness of l/2 inch per inch of bore diameter. Plugs shall be securely fastened. Wooden base plugs shall be discarded and replaced when split, shrunken, charred to less than minimum required thickness, or otherwise damaged. Screw type caps for plugs are prohibited.
   2. (2) Mortars limited solely for the firing of single break shells and finale batteries may be made of spiral or convolute wound chipboard or kraft paper tubes. Tubes for two-inch shells shall have a wall thickness of not less than l/4 inch. Tubes for three-inch shells shall have a wall thickness of not less than 3/8 inch. Tubes for four-, five-, and six-inch shells shall have a wall thickness of not less than l/2 inch. All tubes shall have a base plug in good condition, the thickness of which shall be not less than half the inside diameter of the tube. The base plug shall be securely fastened to the tube.
   3. (3) For single break shells, three-inch and four-inch mortar tubes may be made of 26 gauge or heavier galvanized iron riveted along their seams, beginning at a point within one inch of each end and spaced not more than three inches between rivets and having a two-inch wooden base plug.
   4. (4) The minimum inside length of reusable mortars shall be not less than five times their inside diameter for mortars up to seven inches inside diameter and not less than four times their inside diameter for mortars having an inside diameter greater than seven inches.
   5. (5) Any damaged mortars (split or bulged tube, base, seam, or with loose rivets, bolts, or wooden base plug) shall not be used for firing.
   6. (6) Not less than 50% of the mortar tube length shall be below the normal surface of the ground. Sand or earth filled bags shall not be required unless the tubes do not conform to construction provisions of this subsection. When required, such bags shall be laid against the firing side of the mortars. The upper surface of the bags shall be level with the mortar tube muzzles. Such bags shall also be placed similarly at both ends of each line of mortars.

5. (e) Special setting of mortars. On locations where it is impossible to bury mortars in suitable clean earth or where the authority having jurisdiction and the licensed pyrotechnic operator in charge agree that public safety will be increased, mortars may be set for firing in approved sand or dirt filled steel drums or troughs and shall comply with the following.

   1. (1) The depth of the drum or trough shall permit burial in sand of each mortar to within 50% of the length of the mortar.
   2. (2) The containers shall be set and the mortars secured at the angle determined as safe for firing. Batteries may consist of as many approved units as required for the display, but each unit shall be set, braced, and secured, as determined by the wind direction and velocity predicted for the firing time.
   3. (3) Finale batteries shall be set, braced, and secured as determined by the wind direction and velocity predicted for the firing time.

6. (f) Ready boxes.

   1. (1) Before any firing begins, the entire complement of shells for any licensed or permitted public display shall be brought to the firing site and stored in ready boxes at a point not less than 25 feet distant upwind (with relation to the firing time) from the nearest mortar. These ready boxes shall be constructed and may be of wood, rubber, steel, or fiberboard cartons.
   2. (2) A flame retardant tarp or a wood, rubber, or steel cover shall protect all ready boxes from the time they are placed in position until they are emptied, except that the cover may be lifted when shells are taken from or returned to the boxes.
   3. (3) The use of compartmentation to avoid the mixing of shell sizes is recommended in large displays. Individual boxes should be used for each different shell size.

7. (g) Loading mortars.

   1. (1) Mortars shall be cleared of paper or other burning material after being fired, if necessary. No shell hang firing shall be cleared from mortars for at least 30 minutes after being lighted.
   2. (2) Finale batteries shall not be reloaded with finale chains, but may be reloaded with individual shells.

8. (h) Firing mortars.

   1. (1) All firing shall be done upon order or signal of the licensed pyrotechnic operator directing the public display. No safety cap shall be removed from any shell match until immediately before the mortar is fired. Used igniters shall not be discarded in the area between the mortars and the ready boxes.

   2. (2) Electric firing, if utilized, shall comply with the following requirements.

      1. (A) Connecting any electric firing circuit to any power supply, whether battery or other, is prohibited until all special effects fireworks, pyrotechnics, and explosives in the sequence are connected to firing leads and are cleared for actual firing. Circuitry may be tested with a galvanometer equipped with a silver chloride battery.
      2. (B) Power sources for firing fireworks and pyrotechnics shall be restricted to batteries or individually isolated, ungrounded generators used for firing purposes only. Commercial or house power circuits may be used for this purpose in conjunction with an appropriate transformer.
      3. (C) Short circuiting shunts shall be maintained on all electrically fired pyrotechnic items during preparatory operations including loading, setting, and adjustment.
      4. (D) Firing boxes shall be designed to prevent firing unless the switch is manually operated.
      5. (E) Each explosive charge set in or on water, either salt or fresh, shall be fired by an individual two wire circuit.

9. (i) Public display safety precautions.

   1. (1) A display must be conducted in accordance with all local regulations and conditions prescribed by the fire prevention officer at the time of the site inspection.
   2. (2) During the display, at least one approved Class A type 2 1/2 gallon fire extinguisher or charged garden hose connected to a water line or equivalent means of fire protection shall be provided.
   3. (3) Fireworks articles or items shall not be permitted to cross over or burst directly above the spectator area during such display and it shall be in full view of the pyrotechnic operator at the time of the burst.
   4. (4) Vehicular traffic control shall be provided in all cases where the authority having jurisdiction determines that there is a potential hazard to motor vehicles and people traveling on public highways or roadways.
10. (j) Proximate audience display criteria. Public displays before a proximate audience shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1126, Standards for the Use of Pyrotechnics Before a Proximate Audience, 1996 Edition. Public displays conducted in accordance with this section shall include pyrotechnic devices, including 1.3G, 1.4G, and 1.4S, as defined in NFPA 1126, and individuals conducting such displays shall be regulated by the provisions of this subchapter as pyrotechnic operators.
11. (k) Testing. Testing of fireworks and components of fireworks intended for public displays shall be performed in an area set aside for that purpose and located a safe distance from any plant building or other structure. Such testing shall be permitted by a licensed manufacturer, or licensed distributor, conducted under the direct on-site supervision of a licensed pyrotechnic operator, and no public display permit is required.

Source Note:The provisions of this §34.826 adopted to be effective June 30, 1986, 11 TexReg 2510; transferred effective September 1, 1991, as published in the Texas Register March 6, 1992, 17 TexReg 1745; amended to be effective June 4, 1993, 18 TexReg 3300; transferred effective September 1, 1997, as published in the Texas Register November 14, 1997, 22 TexReg 11091; amended to be effective September 14, 1998, 23 TexReg 9571.