Gyeonggi-do Provincial Government Designates a Light Management Zone to Prevent Light Pollution

Gyeonggi Province announced that it has expanded the "Lighting Environment Management Zone" to all 31 cities and counties by adding Gapyeong and Yeoncheon counties from today (22nd).

The lighting environment management area shall be designated in accordance with the Light Pollution Prevention Act and related ordinances to prevent health and environmental damage caused by excessive light from artificial lighting, and to manage artificial lighting in an environmentally friendly manner so that residents can live in a healthy and pleasant environment.

Previously, in July 2018, the province designated 29 cities and counties in the province as lighting environmental areas, and after a one-year grace period, it began to regulate brightness according to the area and type of artificial lighting installation from July 2019.

It is divided into four areas from 1 to 4, with 1 and 2 being areas where many people do not live, such as national parks, green areas, agricultural areas, and management areas, 3 being residential areas, and 4 being commercial and industrial areas.

From 1 type to 4 types, the brightness tolerance increases.In the case of

street lights, the residential illuminance standard for 1 to 3 types is allowed up to 10 lux (lx) and only 25 lux for 4 types. 1 lux is about the brightness of a candle.

The regulated lights include space lights such as streetlights, security lights, and sports facility lights, advertisements such as outdoor advertisements, and decorations used in sculptures and apartments.

If you do not comply with the light emission allowance standard, you will be fined according to the excess range.

The additional designation of Gapyeong-gun and Yeoncheon-gun reflects last year's light pollution environmental impact assessment.

In 2023, the ratio of the number of lights that exceeded the standard (excess rate) compared to the number of lights measured through the Gyeonggi-do Light Pollution Environmental Impact Assessment was 60.0% in Gapyeong-gun and 35.5% in Yeoncheon-gun.

As a result, it was judged that Gapyeong and Yeoncheon counties need to be designated and managed as lighting environment management areas, the same as 29 other cities and counties.