NELPAG Circular No. 32 — 2008 December 26

Editor: Daniel W. E. Green green@cfa.harvard.edu

Secretary: Bernie Kosicki koskicki@verizon.net

Contributed information for this Circular concerning outdoor lighting problems in New England (or pertinent info from outside New England) are always welcome. Please circulate this newsletter to all interested parties.

MINUTES OF NELPAG MEETING, 16 November 2008

by Bernie Kosicki

Location: Philips Auditorium, Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA. Present: Kelly Beatty, Bob Gillette, Bernie Kosicki, Mario Motta, Michael Ratner, Leo Smith, Paul Valleli,

1. IDA update

• Kelly Beatty gave a summary of IDA efforts. IDA has begun a major fundraising drive, seeking corporate memberships and major philanthropic gifts. One goal is to establish an office in D.C. There is political traction now at the national and state levels. This past summer Kelly and Mario went to Washington to take part in a presentation to House and Senate staffers. Seven House members sent a letter to EPA asking why light pollution wasn’t on its agenda. There is a big push under way to establish an overall policy of lighting.

2. Connecticut update

• Leo Smith mentioned a recent Connecticut conference on how to work with legislators, and how to build alliances with other environmental groups. Pending legislation in Connecticut involves full-cutoff (FCO) streetlights, and all existing floodlights needing to be fully shielded by 2010. Further, there is a provision that any state-leased or purchased lighting must be FCO.
• Leo has been working with the International Energy Conservation Code. 28 states subscribe to these codes for guidance. The new code comes out in 2009, and will contain outdoor lighting provisions.
• Leo also described "midnight-off" photocells that are now available. States need to demand that their utilities provide a rate structure to make this technology economically viable.

3. New Hampshire update

• Bob Gillette of New Hampshire summarized the status there. In that state, 30 towns out of 240 total now have lighting regulations. Ten years ago, a state LP regulation failed, but now there is a new bill being introduced, which is modeled after the Connecticut legislation. It requires fully shielded lighting for any state-funded lights, that the maximum lighting illuminance should be no more than the IESNA guidelines. It would also require utilities to install fully shielded lights whenever public funds, including those of local municipalities, are involved. This bill has three legislative sponsors so far.

4. Massachusetts update

• Mario discussed the status of the Massachusetts LP bill. Senator Creem will sponsor the bill. She is Vice Chair of Ways and Means, which should help in getting the bill to the floor. Mario also said that the Massachusetts chapter of the AMA will take a position on LP this June.

5. EPA update

• Kelly has also had discussions with the EPA regional office in Boston. They are enthusiastic about adding LP guidance to their efforts, and have a small team of staff looking into this.

6. NELPAG website

• Kelly said that the NELPAG web site was now stable and almost ready for public release. There had been some problems that have been resolved. We agreed to make the site live as soon as possible. The goal now will be to build up the NELPAG user base. To that end, Kelly wants to contact all amateur astronomer clubs and organizations in New England to let them know about the new web site.

7. Next Meeting

• The date for the next meeting was not set.