Legislation & Standards

Regulations for public lighting

Austrian and European Union standards, directives and regulations relating to highways:

• ÖNORM O 1051 Road lighting, lighting in conflict areas (in German)
• ÖNORM O 1052 Light immissions (in German): The standard defines limit values and shows ways of producing the right light for the purpose involved and avoiding negative impacts on human life and the environment.
• ÖNORM O 1053 Consideration of the traffic flow (in German)
• EN 13201 Road lighting, parts 1-4: Includes minimum illuminance and luminance levels.
• EN 12193 Light and lighting – Sports lighting
• EN 12665 Light and lighting – Basic terms and criteria for specifying lighting requirements
• EN 12464-2 Lighting of work places – Outdoor work places
• RVS Guidelines and Regulations for Highways (in German): Including maximum luminance for advertising facilities in the vicinity of traffic.

European Union directives and regulations:

• Directive 2005/32/EC Eco-Design Requirements for Energy Using Products (EuP Directive or Ecodesign Directive)
• Regulation (EC) no. 245/2009 implementing Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for fluorescent lamps without integrated ballast, for high intensity discharge lamps, and for ballasts and luminaires able to operate such lamps

Recommendations of the Lichttechnische Gesellschaft (LTG), International Commission on Illumination (CIE), and the Austrian Institute for School and Sport Facilities:

• LTG Measurement and assessment of light immissions from artificial light sources (in German)
• LTG Impact of exterior lighting systems on nocturnal insects (in German)
• CIE 150 Guide on the limitation of the effects of obtrusive light from outdoor lighting installations
• CIE 126 Guidelines for minimising sky glow
• ÖISS Lighting Guide for outdoor Facilities (in German)
• ÖISS Photometric Requirements of Stadium Lighting Systems (in German)

Legislation and codes in other countries

Italy: 2000 Law against Light Pollution in Lombardy

Slovenia: Comprehensive law (2007) designed to protect the natural environment from negative impacts, people’s homes from obtrusive light, passers-by from glare, astronomers from the loss of dark skies, and the economy from excessive power consumption.

Czech Republic: 2002 law against light pollution: "Light pollution is any form of artificial lighting that extends beyond the area for which it is intended, especially when it is directed above the horizon."

Spain: Sky Law enacted in 1992 to protect astronomical observatories on the Canaries; Environmental Arrangement of the Lighting System for the Protection of Nocturnal Ecosystem introduced in Catalonia in 2001, empowering municipalities to introduce zoning measures.

Chile: "Norma Lumina" enacted in 1999 to prevent light pollution in astronomically sensitive areas.

USA: First regulation against light pollution introduced in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1958; ban on mercury vapour lamps came into force in Arizona in 2011.

Japan: Regulations relating to the protection of the night sky introduced in Bisei Town in 1989. The regulations have the highest priority in the districts around the observatories.