Upload new attachment "MA_statehouse.jpg"
Massachusetts Bill S.2493
During the Massachusetts legislature's 2009-10 session, six bills were introduced that pertained to outdoor-lighting regulation. Pushed by NELPAG members Mario Motta and Kelly Beatty, these bills collectively had more than 45 cosponsors in the House and Senate. The bills also had support of Mass Audubon and Mass Sierra Club. Four of them were nearly identical in wording:
House Bill 3762 — Sponsored by Rep. Mary Grant, this bill is titled "An Act to promote energy efficient lighting, conserve energy, regulate outdoor night lighting, and reduce light pollution." If enacted, it would require state- and municipally-funded projects to use fully-shielded exterior lighting in new or replacement installations, and to install that lighting only where it is needed. It would also require Mass Highways to review and update its criteria for roadway lighting.
House Bill 3764 — This bill is identical in wording to HB 3762 and was filed in parallel as the submission deadline was approaching last December.
Senate Bill 1481 — A Senate bill, submitted by Sen. Cynthia Creem, is titled "An Act to promote energy efficient lighting." Its wording is nearly identical to two House bills above, though it omits a short section requiring lighting assessments in environmentally sensitive areas.
Senate Bill 2493 — This bill is what the Joint Energy Committee passed to the Senate's Ways & Means Committee. It's essentially identical to S.1481 but retitled "An act to Reduce Light Pollution."
Note: Two other outdoor-lighting bills were filed: HB 731 (sponsored by Rep. Sean Garballey) and HB 3064 (sponsored by Rep. Steven d'Amico). Both of these were "refiled bills," carryovers from the 2007-08 legislative session that duplicate the wording used in HB 808.
Unfortunately, none of these bills made it to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote. S.2493 came closest, but the Legislature's preoccupation with brokering a casino-gambling deal in the session's final weeks, combined with opposition to outdoor-lighting legislation from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, kept the bill bottled up in the Senate Ways and Means Committee until the end.
NELPAG is committed to getting outdoor-lighting legislation passed in the coming session — Massachusetts is now the only New England State without some kind of statewide mandate on the books. For more information about these bills and how you can help get one passed in the next session, contact NELPAG members Mario Motta ( mmotta@massmed.org ) or Kelly Beatty ( kbeatty@darksky.org ).