New York A 739: Directs the secretary of state to prepare and distribute to cities, towns and villages criterion for a comprehensive outdoor lighting ordinance

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
A00739 Summary:

BILL NOA00739A

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORRosenthal

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §137, Gen Muni L; amd §143, Pub Bldg L

&nbsp

Directs the secretary of state to prepare and distribute to cities, towns and villages criterion for a comprehensive outdoor lighting ordinance; updates general lighting restrictions.

Go to top A00739 Actions:

BILL NOA00739A

&nbsp

01/08/2025referred to local governments

11/21/2025amend (t) and recommit to local governments

11/21/2025print number 739a

01/07/2026referred to local governments

Go to topA00739 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA00739 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA00739 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 739--A

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 (Prefiled)

 January 8, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
 Committee on Local Governments -- committee discharged, bill amended,
 ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to the prepara-
 tion and distribution of criterion for a comprehensive outdoor light-
 ing ordinance; and to amend the public buildings law, in relation to
 lighting restrictions

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new
 2 section 137 to read as follows:
 3 § 137. Comprehensive outdoor lighting ordinance. The secretary of
 4 state, in consultation with the New York state energy research and
 5 development authority, the commissioner of transportation and the
 6 commissioner of general services, shall prepare or cause to be prepared
 7 and distributed to cities, towns and villages a comprehensive outdoor
 8 lighting ordinance for reducing bright sources of glare that hinder
 9 visual performance, reducing inappropriate sources of light that waste
 10 energy and reducing unnecessary sky glow. The comprehensive outdoor
 11 lighting ordinance shall, at a minimum, be in compliance with the
 12 requirements of subdivision two of section one hundred forty-three of
 13 the public buildings law. For purposes of this section, the term "glare"
 14 shall mean light emitted by a fixture that causes discomfort or reduced
 15 visibility; and the term "sky glow" shall mean a condition caused by
 16 light directed upwards or sideways reducing one's ability to view the
 17 night sky.
 18 § 2. Section 143 of the public buildings law, as added by chapter 512
 19 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
 20 § 143. Lighting restrictions. 1. Definitions. As used in this section:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD02268-06-5

 A. 739--A 2

 1 a. "CCT" or "correlated color temperature" means the measured color
 2 appearance of white light using units of kelvin (K). Lower CCTs, 1800K
 3 to 2200K appear very warm or amber. Medium CCTs, 2700K to 3000K, appear
 4 warm white, similar to standard incandescent bulbs. High CCTs, 4000K and
 5 higher, appear cool white or blue.
 6 b. "Direct light" means light emitted by a fixture from the lamp, from
 7 a reflector, or through a refractor.
 8 [b.] c."Facade lighting" means permanent outdoor fixtures that are
 9 specifically intended to illuminate the exterior surfaces of buildings
 10 or structures.
 11 [c.] d. "Fully shielded fixture" means a fixture that allows no direct
 12 light from the fixture above a horizontal plane through the fixture's
 13 lowest light-emitting part, in its mounted position.
 14 [d.] e. "Fixture lumens" means total lumens emitted by a fixture.
 15 [e.] f. "Glare" means light emitted by a fixture that causes discom-
 16 fort or reduced visibility.
 17 [f.] g. "Illuminance" means the luminous power incident per unit area
 18 of a surface.
 19 [g.] h. "Lamp" means a light bulb or other component of a fixture that
 20 changes electricity into visible light.
 21 [h.] i. "Light trespass" means light that falls beyond the property it
 22 is intended to illuminate when measured vertically and five feet above
 23 grade.
 24 [i.] j. "Lumen" means a st