Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-09-17 Origin: Site
On August 15, 2026, the "Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China" will officially come into effect. This is the second law in China named after the "Code" after the "Civil Code". The historical significance of this code is not only a milestone breakthrough in the construction of ecological civilization and rule of law, but also the establishment of a special chapter on light pollution prevention and control at the national legal level for the first time, which sets a clear legal red line for the lighting industry. At this point, "light limit value" has officially become the fourth mandatory indicator after safety, energy efficiency, and health. The development path of "brighter, more energy-efficient, and smarter" that China's lighting industry has long followed will be officially expanded into a new four-dimensional development pattern of "brighter, more energy-efficient, smarter, and more controllable".
一．Legislative breakthrough: a fundamental transition from industry initiatives to legal enforcement
Throughout the historical process of light pollution prevention and control in China, the awkward situation of "qualitative but not quantitative" and "having standards but no penalties" has always existed. Previously, the prevention and control of light pollution mainly relied on a series of non mandatory recommended standards such as the "Outdoor Lighting Interference Light Restriction Specification" and scattered local regulations to manage. These recommended standards could not be independently used as a basis for law enforcement and punishment, resulting in a vicious cycle of "rectification rebound re rectification" in actual work, with a large number of complaints about light pollution prevention and control. Hao Luoxi, a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University and Vice Chairman of the International Commission on Illumination, once stated that the biggest difficulty in the past was the lack of connection between quantitative standards and enforcement basis. He also pointed out that there was a lack of unified rules that could effectively connect with enforcement procedures to determine what constitutes "direct lighting" and "excessive lighting".
The promulgation of the Ecological Environment Code will completely solve the aforementioned problems. Chapter 36 of the ninth sub part of the second part of the code specifically establishes a chapter on "prevention and control of light pollution", using seven articles to construct a complete institutional system from definition to supervision, from planning to standards, as well as scene governance, material control, and zoning management. Together with Article 1210 of the legal responsibility division, it forms a closed-loop governance framework.
Article 667 of the Code provides the first legal definition of light pollution: The phenomenon of excessive or inappropriate use of artificial lighting or improper alteration of sunlight exposure conditions, causing visual interference to people in the surrounding living environment. This definition includes pollution factors from both artificial lighting and sunlight reflection, and includes strong nighttime advertising screens and reflective daytime glass curtain walls in the scope of regulatory control.
Article 668 of the Code clearly stipulates a unified regulatory system: The competent department of ecological environment under the State Council implements unified supervision and management of national light pollution prevention and control work, the competent department of ecological environment under local people's governments implements unified supervision and management of their respective administrative regions, and the relevant departments of housing, urban-rural development, transportation, etc. under the people's governments at or above the county level implement supervision and management within their respective responsibilities. This regulation ends the previous dilemma of unclear cross functional responsibilities between housing and construction, urban management, environmental protection and other departments, and poor channels for public complaints.
Article 670 establishes the legal status of light limit values: The standardization department of the State Council, in conjunction with multiple departments, shall establish reasonable light limits in the technical specifications or product quality standards for lighting products, outdoor display products, traffic fill lights, building glass and materials based on the requirements of light pollution prevention and control and the national economic and technological conditions. This marks the official upgrade of light control indicators from industry recommendations to mandatory legal requirements.
Article 1210 of the Code stipulates the provision on administrative penalties, which states: If effective measures are not taken to prevent and reduce light pollution, such as advertising screens, billboards, lightboxes, media facade walls, roads, sports stadiums, construction sites, etc., which interfere with the normal life and transportation of others, relevant departments shall order rectification; Those who refuse to make corrections shall be fined not less than 5000 yuan but not more than 50000 yuan. The clarification of this penalty provides a rigid basis for law enforcement and also sounds the compliance alarm for the industry.
