October 31, 2022
County’s Outdoor Lights Must Contain Less Than 2% Blue Light
Will manufacturer specs readily show how much delivered light is in the 400-500nm range?
If you are specifying or supplying lighting products for outdoor applications on the island of Maui, Hawaii, the light fixture vetting process is about to get more rigorous.
Last week, Maui County Mayor, Mike Victorino, signed a bill into law aimed at promoting wildlife-friendly lighting practices while simultaneously raising the bar on lighting makers to test and publish more detailed lighting specifications in order to meet the requirements of the newly-passed ordinance.
The new law will impact both existing and new lighting installations and will require the following:
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Outdoor lighting must be fully shielded, including shielding that ensures no light shines over the ocean.
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Light sources must have less than 2% blue light content in the 400 – 500 nanometer range of the visible light spectrum.
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If light shines on an outdoor wall, the surface must be non-reflective (e.g., not a polished or glass surface; painted surfaces must have matte paint). The language of the bill seems to indicate that a matte-painted white wall is compliant, but a glossy black wall is not compliant.
The ordinance’s effective date is July 1, 2023 and provides a three-year phase in period, giving businesses, agencies and others time to come into compliance. In public statements, local officials have stated that the long phase-in period will allow for amendments to be passed in order to address some potential imperfections of the law.
The new ordinance is being celebrated by wildlife activists who have been actively involved in promoting the bill over the last nine months, but there are also detractors. According to The Hawaii Free Press, Lahela Aiwohi of the Hawai'i Hotel Alliance asserted, "This bill, as it is currently written, puts a heavy financial burden on our hotels, and more so, our small local businesses." Disappointed hotel industry representatives argued the council should have consulted them and other impacted businesses more before voting on the bill.
We visited the websites of eleven mid-to-large sized lighting companies to see if we could find published data on outdoor lighting spec sheets or other supporting specification files that quantifies the blue light content within the 400-500 nanometer range. We were unsuccessful in finding any such published information for numerous area lights, wall packs and lamp sources. It is possible, however, that some manufacturers have already captured the required data during its various testing processes and can make the information available on request.
