A “Dark Skies” bill that aims to regulate municipalities’ publicly owned street lights to reduce light pollution and lower municipal energy costs has moved a step closer to becoming law.
The state Senate approved An Act to Improve Outdoor Lighting, Conserve Energy and Increase Dark-Sky Visibility on July 1. The bill would create state guidelines for municipally funded street lights, including regulations that limit their strength and the amount of blue light they can emit and ensure all public lights are pointed toward the road.
The bill would also alter the way cities and towns are charged for the electricity used by their lighting, changing the legacy cost-per-light structure to a metered price calculation and would urge the state’s Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to study the efficiency and environmental impact of its own lighting, according to James Lowenthal, a Smith College astronomy professor who is also president of a group called DarkSky Massachusetts.
“The utilities charge cities and towns by the streetlight without actually metering them; they don’t actually measure how much electricity gets used,” Lowenthal said. “The new LED streetlights are often a good bit less than 25 watts … so [cities and towns are] paying for electricity they’re not using. It’s unfair, it’s a waste of money and it’s an incentive for the cities and towns to actually use more electricity and produce more light than they actually need.”
The Northampton City Council unanimously endorsed a resolution in support of both the Senate (S.3145) and House (H.3494) versions of the Dark Sky bill in 2020. Four years later, the council approved an outdoor lighting ordinance that set light color restrictions, required full shielding against glare, and set regulations on up-lighting and light trespass.
The Senate version of the Dark Skies bill passed in early July on a 39-0 roll call vote, while the House included its version as part of its economic bond bill. Lowenthal said the two legislative bodies will have to reconcile which of the two versions to bring before Gov. Maura Healey.
Speaking in support of the bill at the July 1 hearing, Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem, who sponsored the legislation, explained that it would have far-reaching positive impacts not only on driver safety and the visibility of stars, but on public health.
Creem said light pollution has been linked to increases in a number of health complications, ranging from seasonal allergies, obesity, depression and sleep disturbances to breast cancer.
“This bill would have far-reaching benefits. It would protect wildlife, preserve our view of the cosmos for present-day and future generations of scientists and stargazers. It would address numerous public health and safety concerns,” she said. “[Light] blinds and distract drivers. By reducing it, this bill would make it easier to drive after dark and improve safety on our roads … A recent study even found that light pollution is making seasonal allergies worse.”
Northampton Director of Planning & Sustainability Carolyn Misch, in an interview Friday, said she thought aspects of the bill requiring MassDOT to study and possibly replace its own street lights were a “good step.”
Misch made note of the legislation’s light temperature cap at 3,000 Kelvin, which is slightly more blue and white than Northampton’s 2,700-Kelvin limit. Noting that warmer-temperature cobra-head lights can be rare, she said she wondered if the bill might receive pushback as it makes its way through the Legislature.
Lowenthal said he applauded Northampton’s local light pollution regulations, which he described as being more stringent than the state legislation, as they apply to private businesses and not solely public lighting.
Still, he said that in order for Massachusetts to see tangible health, safety and financial benefits, these light mitigation efforts would have to be applied throughout the state. He said light pollution from neighboring cities leaks into Northampton’s skies.
“Northampton has already got a good [ordinance], but there are many towns around that don’t have such good bylaws, and they actually contribute to Northampton’s light pollution,” he said. “Other [municipalities] don’t have good protection of darkness at night, and we, along with them, suffer as a result of that. Going forward, the Dark Skies bill will help turn the tide of the ever-increasing light pollution and bring back darkness at night, the way it’s supposed to be.”
