Legislation + Regulation

After more than two years of negotiations, the UK government has yet to ratify a Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union, raising the probability of either a “no deal Brexit” or no withdrawal at all. Because lighting designers often work outside their own countries, a Withdrawal Agreement or no-deal Brexit could have big impacts on their business. The International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) recently tackled this complex subject with a blog post outlining the key issues.

Several states are responding to the Trump Administration’s proposed revision to general-service lamp energy standards by enacting their own.

Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) proposed a revision of definitions of certain types of lamps covered by general-service lamp energy efficiency standards.

In a series of blog posts, NEMA’s Clark Silcox explains why NEMA appealed a Department of Energy ruling expanding the types of lamps regulated under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and addresses the Act’s 2020 backstop provision.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the solicitation of nominations to fill upcoming vacancies on the Appliance Standards and Rulemaking Federal Advisory Committee.

The European Union is considering draft regulations extending its Ecodesign laws that would effectively eliminate tungsten halogen and compact fluorescent lamps.

The Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction expired at the end of 2016. On February 9, President Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 into law, which contained a number of provisions including extending the CBTD to the end of 2017. This means lighting upgrade projects completed in 2017 may qualification for the deduction.

On January 1, 2018, new Title 20 regulations went into effect requiring general-service lamps achieve an efficacy of 45 lumens/W. While certain specialty incandescent lamps will continue to be available for sale in the state, consumers will be limited to a choice of LED or CFL for general-service sockets once current inventories of incandescent and halogen lamps are sold.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has issued a final rule related to energy standards for rough-service and vibration-service incandescent lamps. This rule codifies backstop provisions in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, establishing a maximum rated wattage of 40W and packaging limitation of one lamp per package when sold at the retail level. The effective date for the rule was January 25, 2018.