A bill titled “An Act to improve outdoor lighting, conserve energy, and increase dark-sky visibility” has been introduced by Sen. Cynthia Creem (S.2102) and Reps. Sean Garballey and Simon Cataldo (H.3164). This bill is a refiling of S.3306/H.5079 from the last legislative session, which garnered a lot of support but for various reasons, didn't make it out of committee before the legislative session ended. 

This legislation would promote energy-efficient lighting practices throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by:

• requiring municipal- and state-funded projects to use fully-shielded exterior lighting in new or replacement installations, and to install that lighting only where it is needed;
• requiring these installations to use lighting with a correlated color temperature (CCT) of no higher than 3000K, which researchers advocate for human circadian health and nocturnal habitats;
• establishing maximum illumination thresholds for municipal- and state-funded lighting projects;
• requiring Mass. Dept. of Transportation to review and update its criteria for roadway lighting to conform to commonly accepted best practices; and
• requiring the Mass. Department of Public Utilities to establish reduced-rate tariffs for low-wattage LED streetlights and for streetlights that are dimmed or turned off during the night. (This would benefit towns that want to install LED streetlights, particularly if they’re opting for electronic dimming controls.)

Poorly designed or excessive night lighting harms the environment in many ways, including:

• Energy waste: by one recent estimate, light streaming up into the night sky from cities and towns in Massachusetts equates to more than $5,000,000 in wasted electricity annually.
• Visual impairment: poorly designed lighting causes harsh glare that blinds and distracts drivers, especially in bad weather and and for elderly drivers with poor visibility.
• Environmental consequences: overlit buildings disorient many birds, especially during their seasonal migrations, causing death due to impact or predation.
• Loss of the starry sky: skyglow from light pollution reduces enjoyment of the night sky -- and research shows that it is increasing at roughly 10% per year worldwide. More than two-thirds of Americans can’t see the Milky Way from their homes.

By contrast, well-designed lighting illuminates the ground without wasting energy and without being a burden or nuisance to the environment or other people and property. Lighting professionals recognize that the most straightforward means to create a glare-free nighttime environment is to utilize fully-shielded lighting fixtures, which emit all of their light down (below horizontal) and none of it directly up into the sky.

The bill’s requirements would apply only to new or replacement lighting installations — existing lighting would not be affected, and provisions are included to permit waivers when deemed necessary by special circumstances. Nor would it add to project costs, because well-designed, fully-shielded lighting is now almost universally available from manufacturers.

This bill is endorsed by both the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) and the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD).

The primary sponsors are the International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org) and its Massachusetts chapter (https://idamass.wordpress.com).

Signers of this petition urge the Massachusetts Legislature and the Governor of Massachusetts to enact this bill into law.

(Please add a comment about why this is important to you!)