Illumination pollution: Hunt takes aim
at use of too much nighttime lighting

Lawmaker wants to promote properly designed outdoor fixtures

January 16, 2009

OLYMPIA – Flooding the skies with excessive exterior lighting is wrong on at least two very significant levels, according to a Thurston County lawmaker.
First, said state Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, this type of ineffective and inefficient lighting is damaging to the economy because it wastes dwindling energy dollars. And second, poorly designed and improperly installed outdoor illumination is an attack against the environment because it trespasses into the lives of innocent victims.
Hunt is prime-sponsoring a measure this year (House Bill 1069) calling for building codes to crack down on bad lighting and in so doing strengthen public health and safety.
In dimming the nighttime sky, Hunt’s proposed new building-lighting standards seek more protection for the nocturnal environment.
“Contemporary light fixtures should be installed so the light is directed downward,” Hunt explained of updated lighting components, which are called fully shielded luminaries.
The modern lighting devices actually deliver the same amount of light while consuming less energy and sending a smaller amount of greenhouse gas into the environment.
Terms of Hunt’s measure would take effect by July 2010 for “all new public and private outdoor lighting.” Ten years later, in 2020, the new law would become applicable for “all other public and private outdoor lighting.”
Local communities could adopt their own lighting regulations, as long as these local rules are at least as strict as the guidelines set in Hunt’s bill.
The legislation doesn’t apply to temporary lighting at construction projects, such as work on roads or components of water and sewer systems and other parts of the infrastructure, and emergency lighting used by police and fire departments.
“Seasonal and decorative lighting displays that use multiple low wattage bulbs” would also be allowed.
The legislation would forbid outdoor lighting for public and private outdoor recreational-sports facilities unless parking-lot and other lit areas around the facility meet terms called for in the new standards and the event in question is scheduled to finish as close to 10 p.m. (or sooner) as possible.
Unless their lights meet these new standards, outdoor illumination would be banned at outdoor-display lots such as auto dealerships and other businesses. Display-lot lighting would need to be turned off no later than half an hour after the business closes for the night.