Lightrays - September/October 2010

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

Government Affairs Briefs

ALA and Allies Make Final
Push for Federal Energy
Efficiency Bill

As of press time, the ALA and its allies, including energy-efficiency advocates, were pressing Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to support the inclusion of consensus appliance and equipment efficiency standards in Senate energy legislation before the end of this session of Congress.

The standards were negotiated between industry and energy-efficiency supporters and are similar to the “ bulb-in-a-box” standards adopted for portable lighting fixtures in California. The ALA has pursued these regulations on a federal level in order to avoid multiple state regulations that would make it more difficult for manufacturers to sell the same products nationwide.

The standards have received bipartisan support and have passed the House of Representatives. If the consensus standards are not added to Senate legislation in this session, however, the process will have to start over in the next session of Congress.

Massachusetts Introduces
“Bulb-in-a-Box” Legislation
for Portables

Massachusetts House Bill 4825, introduced by Rep. Barry R. Finegold, would requires portable light fixtures that have internal power supplies to have zero standby power when the light fixture is turned off and meet at least one of five additional requirements.

“We are pleased that the language of
the Massachusetts bill is substantially
the same as the ‘Bulb-In-A-Box’ regula-
tions required in California,” said ALA
President/CEO Dick Upton. “It is also
substantially the same as the Federal Bill
that the ALA supports.”
Upton noted that the Massachusetts
bill is different, however, in that it does
not include artwork light fixtures.

New York Legislation
Calls for Portable Lighting
Efficiency Standards

New York Senate Bill 8070, intro-
duced by Sen. Daniel L. Squadron, adds
portable light fixtures to the list of ap-
pliances subject to testing, certification
and enforcement of efficiency standards
by the Department of State and calls on
the New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA) to
establish energy efficiency performance
standards for portable light fixtures.

ALA-PAC Adds Sen. Landrieu
as Industry “Champion”

The ALA Political Action Committee (ALA-PAC) has chosen Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) as an industry “Champion” and donated funds to her re-election campaign.

Sen. Landrieu holds a seat on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources and the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. She chairs the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Her pro-growth, pro-business voting record in the 105th Congress earned her the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of Enterprise Award.

ALA Opposes Clarification
to Toxic Chemical Release
Inventory

The ALA has joined an informal coalition expressing concern over the U.S. Environmental Agency’s (EPA’s) efforts to clarify the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI) article exemption so that emissions of chemicals from finished goods that are not processed or used, or when sitting in storage, would be reportable to the TRI.

The coalition believes that this would greatly and unnecessarily increase reporting burdens on businesses.

“While this issue does not directly affect the lighting industry at this time, our concern is that if these regulations hold up, the next step would be to apply them to other industries such as lighting,” said ALA President/CEO Dick Upton.