Miami Beach bans fireworks except for three days

Miami Beach city officials unanimously decided Monday to prohibit the use of fireworks on Biscayne Bay or in any residential area in the city other than on three holidays a year.

Fireworks are incredibly damaging to our waterways, said Commissioner Tanya Bhatt. “We won’t even mention our dogs’ wellbeing … and we are stewards of our public lands, and so there really should not be as of right permission to shoot fireworks off into the bay.”

The ordinance sponsored by both Ms. Bhatt and Commissioner Laura Dominguez passed first reading in December.

Exceptions for three holidays – New Year’s Day, Jan. 1; Independence Day, July 4; and New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31 – were cited in the commission memo.

The importance of Biscayne Bay was included in the memo as the area “is a vital ecological resource” for the city and serves as a “critical habitat for a wide variety of marine life, including endangered species, and supporting the region’s overall environmental health and biodiversity.”

Additionally, the memo says, fireworks have been shown to release harmful chemicals such as sulfur, copper and lithium; debris including plastics and metallic materials; and pollutants into the air and water. This, the memo says, creates “significant risks to marine ecosystems, including water contamination and harm to aquatic life disrupting their natural behaviors and polluting their habitat.”