Concerned that a fireworks legalization bill he vetoed would have become law, Gov. Mike DeWine said he worked on a compromise with the state Legislature. DeWine, a Republican, said Monday he signed the fireworks bill, Amended Substitute House Bill 172, into law.

The new bill “is better than Senate Bill 113, which was the original fireworks bill that I vetoed,” DeWine said. “Because it was clear to me that the Legislature would have overridden my veto, making Senate Bill 113 the law, I worked with the General Assembly to arrive at a compromise that included changes I wanted to see in the legislation.”

Among DeWine’s concerns were that the vetoed bill would have allowed fireworks locations to double in size from a maximum of 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet and it created “25 separate holidays in the state of Ohio where fireworks could be set off 24 hours a day.”

The compromise reached would allow fireworks locations to increase to up to 7,500 square feet and reduced the number of days fireworks can legally be used. It also requires enhanced sprinkler systems in fireworks locations larger than 5,000 square feet.

The bill would make the discharge of consumer-grade fireworks by Ohioans legal on New Year’s Eve and Day; Chinese New Year; Cinco de Mayo; Memorial Day weekend; Juneteenth; July 3, 4 and 5, and the first Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays before and after July 4; Labor Day weekend; and Diwali, an Indian festival of lights.

The new bill was approved Oct. 27 when the Ohio Senate voted 26-5 in favor of the revised law. The House quickly followed by backing it, 72-23. Though Republicans have supermajorities in both legislative bodies, the bill had bipartisan support.

DeWine’s office made it clear that day that because of changes from a bill he vetoed July 9 that the governor would sign it into law. That bill was supported by the House 66-27 on June 24 and 26-7 by the Senate on June 2.

“The bill I signed limits the discharge of fireworks to the more traditional holidays that Ohioans celebrate while recognizing our numerous culturally diverse holidays,” DeWine said Monday. “The compromise bill also reduces, by half, the allowable increase in showroom size originally offered in Senate Bill 113, while requiring enhanced fire sprinkler systems.

“The measure further prohibits the discharge of fireworks while in possession of, or under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances or on another person’s property without that person’s permission,” he said.

The law’s effective date is July 1, 2022.

When this law takes effect, Massachusetts will be the only state in the nation that doesn’t permit the use of consumer-grade fireworks.

Bruce Zoldan, president and CEO of the Youngstown-based Phantom Fireworks, the nation’s largest consumer fireworks retailer, praised the new law, saying it will greatly increase his business and bring more jobs to the area.

The law allows communities to make further restrictions or outright bans on the days when fireworks could be legally used in Ohio.

Until this law takes effect, consumer-grade fireworks aren’t legal to detonate in Ohio, though that is rarely enforced.

The new law imposes a 4 percent fee on the retail sale, with that money used to fund firefighter training programs as well as pay for the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s regulation and enforcement of the fireworks industry.

The law also establishes the Ohio Fire Code Rule Recommendation Committee made up of the state fire marshal, local fire chiefs, a local police chief, members of the Ohio State Pyrotechnics Association, a member of the Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness, an Ohio Optometric Association member, a member of the Ohio Pyrotechnic Arts Guild, a representative of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants. The committee would advise the state fire marshal on rules about fireworks use, sale, manufacturing licensing and wholesale licensing.