LEDVANCE has collected and summarized information about 14 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, that either have passed mercury lamp bans or have other restrictions on mercury containing lamps. For each jurisdiction, the summary table provides relevant restrictions on general service lamps (GSL, screw-base CFLs, pin-base CFLs, and linear fluorescent lamps. The website [...]

By Robert Smith, Business Development Executive, Energy Network Services Inc. On June 19th, Environment and Climate Change Canada published the Regulations Amending the Products Containing Mercury Regulations: SOR/2024-109 in the Canada Gazette, Part II. These amendments will come into force on June 19th, 2025. These amendments will: Phase out between 2025 and 2030 the import, manufacture and [...]

On May 24, 2024, the FDA denied all Soft Lights Foundation petitions to regulate LED products, in a letter. According to The Soft Lights Foundation website, “The decision by the FDA to not regulate LED products and to not collaborate with any other federal agency illegally pushes regulation of LED products onto state and local governments.” As [...]

  Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law a bill including a “clean lighting” provision phasing out fluorescent tubes in favor of LEDs. Senate File 3345, authored by Senator Mitchell, and House File 3326, authored by Representative Hemmingsen-Jaeger, will end the sale of fluorescent lamps in Minnesota, effective in 2025 for screw- or bayonet-base compact [...]

  By Michael Weems, VP of Public Policy, American Lighting Association  What You Need to Know:  Increased prices, as a result of the Section 301 tariffs on product coming from China, are here to stay and new tariffs are on the way. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently released the long-awaited [...]

  The 2023 National Electric Code (NEC) language initially banned battery-only wall light switches. However, the NFPA published a Temporary Interim Amendment to the 2023 NEC that now allows some battery-only wall light switches IF they incorporate a positive means of notification of impending battery depletion. LightNOW published a story on May 4, 2023: 2023 NEC [...]

  ALA’s next member forum will be hosted Wednesday, May 15, at 12 p.m., CDT. This forum, designed for manufacturer members, will cover the extended producer responsibility laws related to plastic and packaging, which are becoming commonplace. Rachel Michelin, president, of the California Retailers Association, will lead the forum with a brief presentation, followed by an [...]

By Michael Weems, VP of Public Policy, American Lighting Association The Department of Labor: The Department of Labor (DOL) issued the long overdue rule on overtime pay, amending the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide protection to over 4 million American workers. Overtime pay protections are automatic for hourly employees, ensuring those that put in more [...]

  On April 12th, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a final rule for General Service Lamp (GSL) standards. The new standards will raise GSL efficacy requirements from the current 45 lpW (aka the backstop), up to 83 – 195 lpW, depending on lamp type and lumen output. The previous 45 lpW backstop was [...]