Exempts sales to purchasers with facilities totaling more than one million square feet from a prohibition on sales of certain fluorescent lamps until January 1, 2030.
HB 4060 revises Oregon’s fluorescent lamp phaseout law. The bill continues the prohibition on selling, offering to sell, or distributing new-manufactured linear fluorescent lamps and pin-, screw-, or bayonet-base compact fluorescent lamps in Oregon, while also updating and clarifying the statutory exemptions in ORS 459.488 for certain specialized uses. Those exemptions cover lamps used for image capture and projection, ultraviolet and germicidal applications, medical and veterinary uses, pharmaceutical manufacturing, spectroscopy and monitoring, academic research, vehicle replacement lamps for older vehicles, and lamps purchased for schools and very large facilities.
The bill also makes targeted conforming changes tied to House Bill 4066 and includes a separate provision for long term care facilities and residential care facilities. Under that provision, those facilities do not need to submit plans for review solely because they are replacing fluorescent-light fixtures with alternative fixtures to comply with the lamp ban, unless the work is combined with other alterations or new construction. The bill is declared an emergency measure and takes effect on passage, while the amendment to the large-facility exemption is set to become operative on January 1, 2030.
HB 4060 amends ORS 459.485 and 459.488, repeals a prior 2025 provision, and adds temporary construction-review relief for long term care and residential care facilities. In practical terms, it preserves Oregon’s restrictions on new fluorescent lamp sales but extends a limited exemption for purchasers with more than one million square feet of facilities until 2030, and it narrows/clarifies which entities and uses remain exempt from the ban. The bill affects lamp manufacturers, distributors, retailers, schools, large commercial and institutional facilities, health care and care facilities, and users of specialized lighting equipment.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported. It passed the House committee unanimously, passed the House floor unanimously, and passed the House concurrence unanimously. In the Senate, it received a strong committee recommendation and passed third reading with a majority vote, though not unanimously, indicating some limited disagreement or concern at that stage. Overall, the voting pattern suggests general agreement with the bill’s approach and its technical adjustments to the fluorescent lamp phaseout.
The main point of contention is the scope and timing of exemptions to the fluorescent lamp ban, especially the temporary carve-out for purchasers with facilities totaling more than one million square feet and the interaction with the related House Bill 4066. The bill also reflects concern about compliance burdens for long term care and residential care facilities, which are given a temporary exemption from plan review when replacing fluorescent fixtures. These provisions suggest the debate centered less on whether to continue the phaseout and more on how to manage implementation for specialized users, large purchasers, and care facilities.