Maryland Association of Counties Associate Director Andrea Mansfield testified in opposition yesterday to legislation that would limit the counties ability to install or replace lighting along county roadways. However, after discussing these concerns with the sponsor, Delegate Carr, MACo has expressed willingness to work with the sponsor and the committee to address them.
House Bill 169, the Marilyn J. Praisner Safe and Earth-Friendly Roadway Act, would authorize local jurisdictions to install or replace highway lighting only 1) if passive or reflective lighting does not address safety concerns; and 2) with lighting designed to minimize light pollution, veiling luminance ratio, and light trespass. MACo fully supports practices to maximize energy efficiency and minimize light pollution. However, it is concerned with the mandatory nature of HB 169 and believes it could increase costs for replacing lights in some situations.
After talking with Delegate Carr, MACo understand that it is not the sponsor’s intent to place onerous burdens on local jurisdictions. Therefore, MACo offered to work with the sponsor on amendments to address concerns.
[...] have limited the counties’ ability to install or replace lighting along county roadways. As previously reported, MACo opposed the bills due to their mandatory nature and the possibility of increased costs for [...]