Below are the light-pollution relevant parts of the new Czech law on protection of the atmosphere (a ``clean air act'') as signed Wednesday, February 27 by the Czech president Vaclav Havel and as should be valid since June 1, 2002.
Concrete measures in both light pollution and greenhouse emissions prevention are up to future implementing regulations demanded by the law.
For the light pollution, the present draft of the regulations which should be issued by the government follows closely the Lombardy law. The 0cd/klm (i.e., FS, Fully Shielded) rule is a key part of it.
The law itself (a large one, dealing with all kinds of pollution of the air) and the drafts of the implementing regulations are available in Czech at the moment, e.g. at a Czech page http://svetlo.astro.cz/zakon (the Czech text itself as, e.g., 0.3 MB html file or an official pdf file (1,2 MB)).
There is already a preliminary English translation of the whole law I got from the administration for my collaborators, if you would have any suggestions to it, please write me.
The following very short excerpts from the law are divided by ... meaning the not translated parts (usually orders of magnitude longer than the translated ones).
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Law of the Czech Republic from Feb 14, 2002
on the protection of the air and on the change of some further laws
(Law on the Protection of the Air)
Head I
General provisions
§ 1
Subject of regulation
1. This law provides
a. the rights and obligations of persons and the scope of
administrative authorities in the course of protection of the outdoor air
against input of pollutants by human activities and in the course of
manipulating the regulated substances which destroy the ozone layer of the
Earth and manipulating the products containing such substances,
b. conditions for further reduction of the amount of emitted
pollutants affecting adversely the life and health of people and animals,
the environment or the tangible property,
c. tools to reduce the amount of substances which affect the
climate system of the Earth,
d. measures for lowering the light pollution of the air.
2. This law does not concern the input of radionuclides into the
environment, which is dealt with in a special law.
§ 2
Principal concepts
1. For the purpose of this law in the domain of protection of the air
it is understood by
a. outdoor air the air in the troposphere, with exception of the
air on workplaces designated by a special legal regulation (Law No.
258/2000 of Collection of Laws, on Protection of Public Health) and inside
closed spaces (further just ``air''),
...
r. light pollution every form of illumination by artificial light
which is dispersed outside the areas it is dedicated to,
particularly, if directed above the level of horizon.
...
§ 3
Obligations of legal and natural persons
...
10. During activities in places and areas set by the implementing
regulation, everybody is obliged to obey the dispositions of the
municipality and, in accord with that, take measures to prevent the
occurrence of light pollution of the air.
...
12. The implementing regulation sets places and areas,
where no occurrence of light pollution is allowed,
activities, which are subject to the obligation according to item
10,
measures to lower or prevent the occurrence of light pollution
and setting the values of the upper limit of light pollution.
...
Head II
Protection of the air
...
§ 40
...
10. Fine from CZK 500 to 150 000 is set by municipality upon a person,
which violates at least one of the obligations imposed according to
§ 3 item 5 or 10.
...
§ 50
Municipalities
1. Municipality (...)
...
k. issues a regulation, by which it can, on its territory,
constitute a measure according to § 3 item 10 to lower or prevent
the occurrence of light pollution of the air.
2. Municipality (...) checks
...
d. keeping of the obligations according to § 3 item 5
and 10 and sets a fine upon persons which violate them
...
§ 55
Authorisation to issue the implementing legal regulations
1. The government shall issue a regulation to implement the
§ 3 item 12,
§ 4 item 12, § item 12, § 6 item 9 and § 7 item 11.
...
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Two comments to the formulations inside the law:
The ``level of horizon'' formula inside the definition is perhaps not the best possible expression (``line of horizon'', like in Lombardy law, or just ``horizon'' may suit better), but it suffices of course.
The perhaps mysterious formula ``places and areas, where no occurrence of light pollution is allowed'' might concern true-night-reserves (like nature areas without dwellings) only, but the definition taken from the Article 6 of the Lombardy law complies with it as well: ``systems, constituted by lighting apparatuses, having the maximum light intensity of 0 cd per 1000 lumen to 90° and beyond are considered as not light polluting...''
jenik hollan, March 7, 2002
(some more info on quality lighting in Czechia see at http://www.astro.cz/darksky)