Senate analyzes projects that ban loud fireworks

The end of year festivities, a reason for joy for families, are also a time of apprehension in many homes. The reason is the noise of fireworks, especially on New Year's Eve.

The ban on exploding fireworks is already adopted in some states and municipalities to protect people and animals from negative health impacts. Now, a project being discussed in the Senate could extend the ban to the entire country.

Several projects, including 1 of a popular initiative, have already been presented with this objective, and 2 of them were on the committees' agenda in the last months of 2023, but the discussion ended up being postponed to 2024.

The objective is to protect those who suffer from the explosion of fireworks. This group includes people with hypersensitivity to noise — such as the elderly, children, and people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) — and also animals, both domestic and wild.

“Yes, we want pyrotechnic shows that celebrate joy, life, art and culture, leisure, full of colors and images, that streak the sky with their lights and shine, shapes and tones, but that respect human beings , especially those most fragile, and the environment. This is the desired conciliation, the middle path, which we invite the national industry to follow”, said the senator Paulo Paim (PT-RS) at the EC (Education Commission).

Paim is rapporteur of the PL 5/2022from the senator Randolfe Rodrigues (without party-AP), which seeks to prohibit throughout the national territory the use and sale of fireworks that produce noise from the explosion of gunpowder.

According to the text, visual fireworks are still permitted, but the manufacture, trade, transport and handling of fireworks and other pyrotechnic devices with noise is prohibited, whether for use in public areas or private places.

“The noise from exploding fireworks can reach 150 to 175 decibels, however, the limit supported by human beings is between 120 decibels, causing discomfort, and 140 decibels, considered the pain threshold”said Randolfe when presenting the project, which is being analyzed at CCJ (Constitution and Justice Committee).

Animals

When presenting the text, Randolfe also mentioned the effects on animals. The noise, says the senator, causes birds to flee their nests and fly disoriented, crashing into windows. He also recalled that domestic animals, such as dogs, can suffer damage to the eardrum and even convulsions and fainting. “The feeling of stress and fear generated by the noise of the fireworks is enormous, causing serious damage to their health”said the senator.

The same concern is in the justification of the PL 439/2021from the senator Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES), under analysis in the CMA (Environment Committee). The project, whose rapporteur is Senator Ana Paula Lobato (PSB-MA), also prohibits the manufacture and sale of fireworks with fireworks throughout the country.

“According to Technical Note from the CFVM [Conselho Federal de Medicina Veterinária], the noise from fireworks can cause irreparable damage to the health of domestic and wild animals, as they have much greater hearing capacity than humans. Among the damage caused by noise, we mention hearing loss resulting from ruptured eardrums and disorientation that can lead to serious accidents, such as hangings, falls and escapes followed by car accidents.”said the senator.

Biologist Claudia Rocha-Campos, environmental analyst at ICMBio (Instituto Chico Mendes) recalled that there are records of cases in the United States and Sweden of entire flocks of birds appearing dead after New Year's Eve. According to the expert, any noise above 70 decibels can cause changes in the animals' behavior.

“Animals still have greater sensitivity, as they can hear even frequencies that the human ear cannot capture. Therefore, intense noise can cause physical and psychological damage, chronically or acutely. […] There is no difference between the harm to domestic or wild animals. There are differences for those with more acute hearing, such as mammals”he said.

Texts

Contarato's project determines a prison sentence of 1 to 4 years and a fine for anyone who manufactures, imports or sells fireworks that do not comply with noise emission limits. It also defines detention, from 1 to 6 months, and a fine for those who use fireworks that cause noise pollution.

Result of a legislative idea presented through the e-Cidadania portal, the PL (bill) 2,130/2019 prohibits the manufacture, sale and import of fireworks that do not meet the noise emission limits established by regulation. The project has already been approved by the CMA in 2019 and is awaiting a vote on the request so that it can also be considered by the CAE (Economic Affairs Commission).

Approved by the Senate in 2017, PLS 497/2013 prohibits the manufacture, trade and burning of pyrotechnic balloons and all fireworks in which they were used “high explosives”, very sensitive materials that can explode under the action of fire or the impact of a blow. The project was sent to the Chamber, but has not yet been voted on.

Economy

In addition to those who defend the tradition of fireworks during festivals, there is also concern about the effects of the ban on the economy. During the discussion of PL 5/2022 at the EC, senator Professor Dorinha Seabra (União-TO) said he agreed that there are risks and damages caused by noisy fireworks, but he also stated that he feared that the ban would cause damage to the national industry and would not have practical effects, because there would still be smuggling, for example.

“I received a note from the CNI [Confederação Nacional da Indústria] about the number of jobs linked to this area as well: around 25 thousand jobs. I understand both the author and the report, which is very well constructed, but I draw attention to how the project will advance so that this can be evaluated, so that we don't fall for this trick. I am very afraid of ending up banning national companies and becoming a product that is exported”declared the senator.

Despite agreeing that there may indeed be questions, both in cultural and economic aspects, the senator Teresa Leitão (PT-PE) stated that the commission could not have a different position than that expressed by the rapporteur, senator Paulo Paim, in favor of the ban.

“There is no doubt that the law can contribute to new behavior, new conduct. The text is broad, as it goes from manufacturing to marketing, but let's prepare for questions. I think we will have them, but I agree with the rapporteur: we cannot have a different position”, said the senator at the EC.

For the senator Flavio Arns (PSB-PR), we need to think about the hypersensitivity of autistic people, those in hospitals, animals and also the risk generated by inappropriate handling of firecrackers, for example, without forgetting the concern for jobs. For him, the debate needs to continue.

Justice

Increasingly, states — such as Acre, Goiás and the Federal District — and municipalities — such as Campo Grande, Goiânia, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre — have been banning loud fireworks. What happens in many locations is that, in practice, this determination is not being fulfilled.

In addition, there were legal challenges to the ban. In response to one of these questions, the STF (Supreme Federal Court) decided, in May 2023, that municipalities have the legitimacy to pass laws to prohibit the setting off of fireworks and pyrotechnic devices with explosions.

In March 2021, the Supreme Court had already declared the constitutionality of the law of the Municipality of São Paulo in the same sense. According to a scientific article attached to the process, 63% of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder cannot tolerate stimuli above 80 decibels. Scientific studies were also mentioned that demonstrate the damage caused by fire noise to various animal species.

With information from Senate Agency