Important Details About The California Fluorescent Lamp Ban

Earlier this week, California banned fluorescent lamps, both CFLs and linear fluorescent lamps, joining Vermont’s ban in May, and the EU’s ban in December. California went beyond Vermont’s ban on 4’ lamps, by banning linear fluorescent tubes up to 8’ long.

I chased down the legislative language and found the following effective date information for the CA ban:

• Screw or bayonet base CFLs are prohibited on and after January 1, 2024.
• Pin-based CFLs are prohibited on or after January 1, 2025.
• Linear fluorescent lamps (aka fluorescent tubes) are prohibited on or after January 1, 2025.

Other interesting details of the law include:

• The legal language prohibits “final sale, sold at final sale, or distributed in CA as a new manufactured product.”
• The bill exempts various CFLs and linear lamps, including ones for image capture and projection, lamps used for disinfection, sunlamps for tanning, and other specialized lamps for medical purposes & scientific research.
• The CFL ban applies to all tube diameters and all tube lengths, including, but not limited to: PL, spiral, twin tube, triple, twin, 2D, U-bend, and circular.
• The linear fluorescent ban includes, but is not limited to:
  • single-pin, two-pin, and recessed double contact.
  • all tube diameters, including, but not limited to T5, T8, T10, and T12.
  • all tube lengths from 0.5 to 8.0 feet, inclusive.
  • all lamp shapes, including, but not limited to linear, U-bend, and circular.

The remarkably brief 2.5-page legal language can be downloaded here.

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and Senior Business Development Consultant at Capacity Consulting, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has been co-chair of the ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

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