Hebei Issues Urban Lighting Management Regulations; Excessive Landscape Lighting Strictly Prohibited

　　The "Hebei Province Urban Lighting Management Regulations" were issued recently. The regulations state (Focus Real Estate Network) that urban lighting facility pipelines should be buried underground according to plans, and existing overhead lighting lines should be gradually converted underground according to plans. The regulations stipulate that no unit may use high-energy-consumption, low-efficiency lamps with multiple light sources and without light controllers in urban functional lighting, and behaviors exceeding energy consumption standards, such as excessive lighting and the creation of light pollution in urban landscape lighting, are strictly prohibited. These regulations shall come into force on August 1, 2012, with a validity period of 5 years.

　　The road lamp installation rate should reach 100%

　　Urban lighting refers to the functional lighting and landscape lighting of urban roads, bridges, tunnels, squares, residential areas, lakes, rivers, parks, public green spaces, places of historical interest, and other buildings (structures) within the planned areas of cities and towns where county people's governments are located. The regulations clarify that urban lighting work should follow the principles of being people-oriented, economically applicable, energy-saving and environmentally friendly, and beautifying the environment, and should strictly control the energy consumption of decorative landscape lighting for public facilities and large buildings. The regulations state (Lù Dǐng Jì) that functional lighting should be installed in accordance with national and provincial urban lighting standards and specifications for new and rebuilt urban road projects, and the lamp installation rate should reach 100%. Urban lighting facilities supporting urban roads, residential areas, and important buildings (structures) should be constructed in accordance with urban lighting plans, and designed, approved, constructed, accepted, and put into use simultaneously with the main project.

　　Carry out green lighting pilot demonstration activities

　　Energy conservation has a separate chapter in the "Regulations." The regulations stipulate support for scientific and technological research on urban lighting, the promotion of the use of energy-saving and environmentally friendly new lighting technologies and products, the implementation of green lighting pilot demonstration activities, and the improvement of the scientific and technological level of urban lighting. They also point out the methods that should be adopted for urban lighting energy conservation, such as time-based, zone-based, and graded lighting; on secondary urban roads and small alleys, under the premise of meeting light distribution requirements, street lamp fixtures using semiconductors (LED) as light sources should have a fixture system efficiency of not less than 90lm/W. The "Regulations" encourage the active promotion of renewable energy utilization lighting systems in areas where it is difficult to access power, such as arterial roads connecting urban roads outward, urban-rural junctions, and scenic areas (xingtai.focus.cn), based on natural conditions and adapted to local conditions. Urban lighting authorities should, in accordance with urban lighting plans, formulate urban lighting energy conservation plans and energy-saving technical measures, prioritize the development and construction of functional lighting, strictly control the scope, brightness, and energy density of landscape lighting, and, in accordance with relevant national and provincial regulations, eliminate inefficient lighting products within a specified time.

　　Functional lighting shutdown exceeding 24 hours should be announced in advance

　　According to the "Regulations," the lighting rate of main urban road lighting should reach 98%, and the lighting rate of secondary roads and branch roads should reach 96%; the intact rate of road lighting facilities should reach 95%, and the intact rate of landscape lighting facilities should reach 90%. General faults in urban lighting facilities should be repaired within 24 hours; serious faults, except for force majeure reasons, should be repaired within 3 working days; in the event of sudden critical faults, major safety hazards, or extremely adverse weather (Tian Long Ba Bu), effective handling measures should be taken within 1 hour to prevent secondary accidents; during normal maintenance of urban lighting facilities, functional lighting or landscape lighting should not be turned on during the daytime for general lighting facility maintenance operations; the closure of functional lighting for more than 24 hours should be announced to the public in advance through media and other channels.