HB 1584 Summary

• Renames the existing "Shielded Outdoor Lighting Act" to the "Arkansas Nighttime Environment Protection Act" and expands its purpose to include promoting safety, conserving energy, and saving tax dollars in addition to environmental preservation.

• Requires state agencies, public corporations, counties, municipalities, and electric utilities to install new or replacement lighting systems that are full cutoff fixtures (when exceeding 1,800 lumens), comply with illuminance guidelines from the Illuminating Engineering Society or U.S. Department of Transportation, and use color temperatures of 4,000 Kelvin or less for highways and 3,000 Kelvin or less for other areas.

• Establishes stricter requirements for electric utilities' residential security lighting, requiring full cutoff fixtures with 3,000 Kelvin or less color temperature when fixture lumens exceed 1,800.

• Adds definitions for "excessive cost" (110% more expensive than nonconforming systems), "full cutoff," "light pollution," "light trespass," "illuminance," "lighting system," and "permanent outdoor fixture."

• Provides exemptions for federal preemption, special lighting needs at sports facilities and monuments, state correction and detention facilities, and cases where compliant systems cannot meet safety needs without excessive cost.