Here is a list of fluorescent bulb bans by the government energy police.

http://www.topbulb.com/light-bulbs/linear-fluorescent-tube.html

Sigh....

Impact resistant bulbs are excluded, so I don't know why 40 watt T12 bulbs could not be sold if they has some sort of impact resistant coating that could be peeled off, if you wanted to peel it off.

I would guess the T17 fluorescent bulbs escaped the ban since they are not listed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bans_of_incandescent_light_bulbs

I also think it is easy to see how at some point fluorescent lighting will be replaced with LEDs, not by choice, but by legislation and just the stroke of a pen.
All it takes is some well paid lobbyist.

I would guess this is how the present bulb ban got passed.
All the bulb and ballast replacement is going to be a money maker for someone.  

What I don't get is that if all the 8' T12 Slimline lamps "FAIL" and the MAJORITY of 4' medium bi-pin lamps "FAIL," why does it say that lamps with a CRI of 87 or higher pass? I have 5 8' T12's with an 87 CRI. Will they be banned too? We need PRO-gress. Not CON-gress.    If I remember correctly, Home Depot sells a box of Philips F40T12/CWS with a sort of impact resistance. I was there a few weeks ago, and I vaguely remember an impact resistant lamp.

I agree.
I am all for improvement in lighting, but the market should dictate what is better.
Over time people naturally gravitate to what works best at the lowest cost in equipment and the energy required to operate it.
This has been going on since man first used fire for light in caves.

Instead you have people that would not know a ballast from a concrete block making decisions that will cost people millions if not billions of dollars to change out their lighting under the guise of saving energy.

It is amazing what money and lobbying can do.

When I think of "Improvement," I think of the phrase "F40/D, or F40/CW. I think of half-pipers with starters and brick ballasts and no T8 in sight. I also think of a 1959 Cadillac. Do you know why? Because all that stuff was made in AMERICA, supporting the AMERICAN economy. Because back when we still had jobs here, we had money to pay the electric bill! If the government read that, they'd have these facial expressions: