Prohibitions under the California Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act, enacted into law October 12, 2007, are set to take effect in the new year. Beginning January 1, 2010, it is prohibited to manufacture for sale, sell or offer for sale in the state of California specified general purpose lights that contain levels of hazardous substances prohibited by the European Union pursuant to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive.
Also prohibited as of January 1, 2010, is the sale of general purpose lights from manufacturers who fail to provide the required documentation or certification specified below.
These prohibitions will not apply to high-intensity discharge lamps and compact fluorescent lamps greater than 9 inches in length until January 1, 2012, and will not apply to specified incandescent lamps and enhanced spectrum lamps until January 1, 2014. These prohibitions apply neither to high output and very high output linear fluorescent lamps greater than 32 millimeters in diameter, nor to preheat linear fluorescent lamps. On or after January 1, 2014, the Department of Toxics Substances Control will be required to determine, in consultation with manufacturers of those high output and very high output linear fluorescent lamps, whether those lamps should be subject to the prohibition, taking into consideration changes in lamp design or manufacturing technology, allowing for removal or reduction of mercury.
"General purpose lights" means lamps, bulbs, tubes, or other electric devices that provide functional illumination for indoor residential, indoor commercial, and outdoor use. “General purpose lights” do not include any of the following specialty lighting: appliance, black light, bug, colored, 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, and vibration service or vibration resistant. “General purpose lights” also do not include lights needed to provide special-needs lighting for individuals with exceptional needs.
Certifications:
A manufacturer will be required to prepare and, upon request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control, submit technical documentation or other information showing that its general purpose lights for sale or offered for sale in this state comply with the requirements of the RoHS Directive. A manufacturer will also be required to provide, upon request, a certification to a person who sells or offers for sale that manufacturer's general purpose lights, attesting that those lights do not contain levels of hazardous substances that would result in the prohibition of those general purpose lights being sold or offered for sale in California.
Violation of the above requirements and prohibitions is not subject to any criminal penalties imposed pursuant to California's Hazardous Waste Control Law.
The RoHS Directive prohibits the use of the following six substances above the specified concentrations at the homogeneous material level:
Lead (0.1%)
Mercury (0.1%)
Cadmium (0.01%)
Hexavalent chromium (0.1%)
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) (0.1%)
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) (0.1%)