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 [...]

  The Washington State legislature passed House Bill 1185, which will ban mercury-containing fluorescent lamps. Washington will become the 8th state to ban most fluorescent lamps. The bill is now on its way to Governor Inslee’s desk to be signed into law, which is expected. Some key provisions of the bill include: Beginning January 1, [...]

  On February 9th, 2024, a bill was introduced into the Illinois legislature, the “Outdoor Lighting Control Act”, SB3501. The bill includes legislative findings, defines terms, and provides that all new, renovated, or retrofitted luminaires purchased with State funds after the effective date of the Act or installed after the effective date of the Act [...]

By Michael Weems, VP of Public Policy, American Lighting Association (ALA) The following is reprinted with the permission of ALA. The concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws originated out of the European Union. Since then, EPR laws have flourished worldwide, including in the United States and Canada. The initial wave of EPR laws focused on electronics and battery [...]

Louisiana’s utility regulators, the Louisiana Public Service Commission, voted in late January to approve creation of the first state-wide, independent, energy efficiency program in the Southeast U.S. The program will have a mission to reduce energy usage and energy bills for both homes and businesses across the state. Measures can include things like insulating buildings, [...]

On January 16, 2024, The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to amend the content of the Energy Guide Label for ceiling fans. The proposal calls for updating the energy cost information and product comparability range. The proposal would also establish a five-year schedule for regularly updating the [...]

  On June 30, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 54 into law to address the impacts of single-use packaging and plastic food service ware. This law requires that by 2032, single use plastics (packaging & food ware) in CA be reduced by 25%, 65% be recycled, and 100% be recyclable or compostable. The law [...]

  The IRA provides $400 Billion in federal funding for clean energy carbon reduction to address climate change. The IIJA provides $550 Billion in federal funding, over the next 5 years, for infrastructure, including EV charging infrastructure, as well as numerous projects that often include lighting, such as bridges, tunnels, highways, railway improvements, and more. [...]

  In the absence of Federal government action, lawmakers in 28 states have proposed legislation to end seasonal time changes each Fall and Spring. In March, 2022, The U.S. Senate passed a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. The bill went nowhere in the House, and has made no apparent progress in the past [...]