Friends of the MIlky Way

Update December 2005:
A revised Cochise County Light Pollution Code has been adopted by the Board of Supervisors after a several long years of drafting this major revison. The code now has greater shielding requirements and sections that invoke 'lumens per acre' standards. The code is applicable to unincorporated areas of the county. For a overview of the code and a link that takes you to the county code, visit : http://www.co.cochise.az.us/P&Z/PollutionCode.htm

Lets hope this code is effective and residents use it to keep light pollution out of the rural Cochise County.

Good news!

Governor Janet Napolitano signed the "good" outdoor lighting bill (SB 1218) into law on Monday (May 12). The law requires the full shielding of outdoor lighting fixtures for buildings and associated grounds and parking lots owned by the state or cities with a population over 50,000. It also requires energy efficiency for lighting systems for those facilities.

The bill, which will become effective 90 days after the current Regular Session ends, was the product of collaboration between astronomers, dark skies advocates, neighborhood and environmental groups, state agencies, and the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Sen. Gabrielle Giffords was the lead sponsor and was instrumental in ushering the bill through the whole process.

Regarding the "bad" electronic billboard bill (SB 1138), it still has not been scheduled for a Final Read in the Senate. Disarray over the budget in the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning will likely delay the vote even further.

Email received from Mark Mayer:

Dear Friends of Dark Skies:

SB 1218 (outdoor lighting standards) just passed Third Read in the House of Representatives by a 42-17. The one "not voting" on the roll call was Tucson-area Rep. Randy Graf, who had already professed his opposition to the bill.

This makes it a virtual certainty that the bill will become law. Go to the link below for the roll call vote and thank representatives that supported us on this. The House/Senate Roster is attached for your convenience. Particular thanks should go to Sen. Giffords who is the lead sponsor and ushered this bill through the difficult environment that the legislature is these days.

It should noted that an amendment was tacked on in House Transportation that was designed to exempt temporary municipal lighting used during road and building construction projects. This language needs to be stripped or reworded so that it is quite clear that the exemption can not in any way be interpreted as applying to permanent roadway and outdoor building lighting. Hopefully this can occur in a conference committee.

Also, an attempt was made to attach the language from electronic billboard bill (HB 2364) to another bill, but that was fought off late last week and earlier this week. More details after the legislature adjourns for the week later today.

1) Greetings Cochise County Astronomers: Good news from Phoenix.
Now is time to support Giffords SB 1218, as per Mark's words.
Don Higgins

From: "Mark Mayer" <mmayer1@mindspring.com>
To: "Mayer, Mark" <mmayer1@mindspring.com>
Subject: HB 2364 Electronic Billboards SB 1218 Dark Skies
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 22:32:51 -0700

Dear Billboard Watchers:

Good News to report: The electronic billboard bill (HB 2364) failed in the Senate Commerce Committee by a 4-4-1 vote this morning. It appears to be dead for the session, but there is always a possibility it could come back. As they say, it ain't over 'til it's over.

The hearing went on for a good while this morning. The following testified in opposition of the bill:

Mark Mayer Neighborhood Coalition of Greater Tucson
Michael Green, American Institute of Architects
Richard Green, Kitt Peak National Observatory
Frank Kern, Principal Assistant Attorney, City of Tucson

The following were present in opposition, but did not speak:

René Salgado, Luz Social Services
Tom Dorn, Arizona Planning Association
Jerry Flannery, Coconino County and County Supervisors Association
Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club
Donna Neil, N.A.I.L.E.M.
Randy Peterson, East Valley Astronomy Club

Clear Channel Outdoor and their lobbyists were the only ones present in favor of the bill.

The four senators below, all Democrats, should be thanked for voting against the bill. Sen. Giffords in particular provided a lot of attention and extra assistance.

Gabrielle Giffords ggifford@azleg.state.az.us
Ken Chevrount   kcheuvro@azleg.state.az.us
Marsha Arzberger marzberg@azleg.state.az.us
Victor Soltero   vsoltero@azleg.state.az.us

Senator Dean Martin, a Phoenix Republican, was conveniently absent when the
vote was taken, which allowed the bill to fail. dmartin@azleg.state.az.us
Senators Allen, Tibshraeny, Blendu, and Leff voted in favor of the bill.

Another piece of good news is that SB 1218, a bill to help protect dark skies and the viability of astronomy in Arizona, passed the House Committee on Utilities and Municipalities this morning by a 7-1 vote. It was anticipated that there would be more opposition by the die-hard anti-regulatory types, but only one ultimately voted against the bill. I was intimately involved in crafting the language in cooperation with many of the astronomers that were so helpful in defeating the electronic billboard bill.
Sen. Giffords, the lead sponsor, and Rep. Nelson, the Chair of the committee who agreed to hear the bill and spoke in its favor, should be thanked in particular. Rep. Mason also spoke in favor of the bill.

Mark Mayer

SB 1218 (Outdoor Lighting Standards) passed out of the House Committee on Utilities and Municipalities today with only 1 "no" vote. There were some wonderful comments made by committee members about the importance of this legislation, specifically Representatives Nelson, Jayne, and Mason.

We had some great supporters come to testify on or support the bill including Dr. Richard Green, Director of Kitt Peak, Mark Mayer from the Tucson Neighborhood Coalition, Randy Peterson from the East Valley Astronomy Club, Eddie Geiger from the League of Cities and Towns, the Dept. of Administration, the Dept. of Transportation, the Sierra Club, and the Arizona Planning Association.

We are finalizing the withdrawal of the bill from Transportation and Appropriations Committee, so now the bill should go directly to the Rules Committee (to determine it's constitutionality), and then to the full House for a vote next week.

Once again, I would like to request your letters and/or phone calls to the full body of the Arizona House of Representatives. Your out pouring of letters make all of the difference in the world. Trust me on this.

syarbrou@azleg.state.az.us; bwagner@azleg.state.az.us; stully@azleg.state.az.us;mthompso@azleg.state.az.us ; bstump@azleg.state.az.us; wstraugh@azleg.state.az.us; crosati@azleg.state.az.us; ; mreagan@azleg.state.az.us;dquellan@azleg.state.az.us; gpierce@azleg.state.az.us;rpearce@azleg.state.az.us; tohaller@azleg.state.az.us; wnichols@azleg.state.az.us;jnelson@azleg.state.az.us; bmiranda@azleg.state.az.us; rmeza@azleg.state.az.us;dmccune@azleg.state.az.us; mmcclure@azleg.state.az.us; lmason@azleg.state.az.us ;jloredo@azleg.state.az.us; llopez@azleg.state.az.us; plopes@azleg.state.az.us; slaughte@azleg.state.az.us; llandrum@azleg.state.az.us; bkonopni@azleg.state.az.us; kjohnson@azleg.state.az.us; cjayne@azleg.state.az.us; jhuppent@azleg.state.az.us; shuffman@azleg.state.az.us; chubbs@azleg.state.az.us; phershbe@azleg.state.az.us;jhart@azleg.state.az.us; phanson@azleg.state.az.us; dgullett@azleg.state.az.us; lgray@azleg.state.az.us; rgraf@azleg.state.az.us; sgallard@azleg.state.az.us; jflake@azleg.state.az.us; efarnswo@azleg.state.az.us ; tdowning@azleg.state.az.us; kclark@azleg.state.az.us; cchase@azleg.state.az.us; jcarruth@azleg.state.az.us; tcarpent@azleg.state.az.us; ocajerob@azleg.state.az.us; ebustama@azleg.state.az.us; mbcahill@azleg.state.az.us; jburns@azleg.state.az.us; dbradley@azleg.state.az.us; tboone@azleg.state.az.us; abiggs@azleg.state.az.us; rbarnes@azleg.state.az.us; barnold@azleg.state.az.us; malvarez@azleg.state.az.us; jallen@azleg.state.az.us; aaguirre@azleg.state.az.us

Assuming that the bill passes and the Governor signs the bill (she is very likely to do so), I invite you all to come to the bill signing. I will let you know when and where that will take place.

Gabrielle Giffords
State Senator
District 28
Arizona State Senate
1700 W. Washington Street
Phoenix, Az. 85007
602-542-5262
ggifford@azleg.state.az.us