In an effort to promote energy conservation and environmental protection, the State of California recently enacted legislation that will ban the sale or manufacture of certain general purpose lights made on or after 1 January 2010 that contain levels of hazardous substances prohibited by the European Union directive on the restriction of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS directive). These restrictions will be extended to high-intensity discharge lamps and compact fluorescent lamps greater than nine inches in length effective from 1 January 2012 and to state-regulated general service incandescent lamps and enhanced spectrum lamps effective from 1 January 2014. These restrictions will not apply to high-output and very high-output linear fluorescent lamps greater than 32 millimetres in diameter or to pre-heat linear fluorescent lamps, although the state is required to determine on or after 1 January 2014 in consultation with companies that manufacture these products whether they should be subject to the restrictions.
The substances covered by the EU RoHS directive, together with their maximum concentration values, are listed below.
|
Substance
|
MCV (percent by weight)
|
|
Lead
|
0.1%
|
|
Mercury
|
0.1%
|
|
Cadmium
|
0.01%
|
|
Hexavalent chromium
|
0.1%
|
|
Polybrominated biphenyls
|
0.1%
|
|
Polybrominated diphenyl ether
|
0.1%
|
Manufacturers of general purpose lights will have to prepare and submit within 28 days at the request of Californian authorities technical documentation or other information showing that their lights comply with the requirements of the RoHS directive. In addition, manufacturers will have to provide upon request a certification to the seller attesting that their lights do not contain levels of hazardous substances that would preclude their sale under the aforementioned restrictions. Alternately, the manufacturer may display the required certification prominently on the lights' shipping container or on the packaging.
Lastly, the California State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission is required to adopt minimum energy efficiency standards for all general purpose lights by 31 December 2008. The regulations, in combination with other programmes and activities affecting lighting use in the state, would be structured to reduce average state-wide electrical energy consumption by not less than 50 percent from the 2007 levels for indoor residential lighting and not less than 25 percent from the 2007 levels for indoor commercial and outdoor lighting by 2018.
The term "general purpose lights" is defined in the regulations as "lamps, bulbs, tubes, or other electric devices that provide functional illumination for indoor residential, indoor commercial, and outdoor use." This definition does not include any of the following specialty lighting: appliance, black light, bug, coloured, infrared, left-hand thread, marine, marine signal service, mine service, plant light, reflector, rough service, shatter resistant, sign service, silver bowl, showcase, three-way, traffic signal, vibration service or vibration resistant, or lights needed to provide special-needs lighting for individuals with exceptional needs.
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