AB 742

Under current law, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) prescribes

standards for gasoline and similar fuels and administers laws regulating the

inspection and sale of those fuels and other petroleum products. Current law also

requires certain suppliers who receive petroleum products for sale in this state to pay

a petroleum inspection fee. The Department of Revenue (DOR) administers the laws

that relate to this fee. This bill reorganizes the statutes so that the petroleum

inspection fee statutes are placed with other statutes that relate to vehicle fuel taxes

and that are also administered by DOR. The bill also does the following:

1. Changes the term "petroleum products" to "fuel products" to more accurately

describe the products covered under the laws administered by Commerce and DOR.

2. Clarifies that with regard to requirements for fuel product inspection, an

inspector is not required to take a sample of every fuel product that is received in this

state, and that the inspector may discard the sample seven or more days after taking

the sample.

3. Authorizes Commerce to determine what constitutes a reasonable length of

time in which an inspector may take a sample of a fuel product rather than requiring

that the sample be taken during a specified time as required under current law.

4. Eliminates a requirement that a recipient of fuel products submit an

application to Commerce if the recipient wants to unload the fuel products before

inspection.

5. Clarifies that the requirements for inspection of fuel products do not apply

to fuel products that are used in this state but that are not sold or offered for sale in

this state.

6. Authorizes, rather than requires as under current law, an inspector to

inspect fuel product samples to determine whether the samples meet minimum

specifications prescribed by Commerce and eliminates the requirement that the

inspector issue an inspection certificate.

7. Authorizes an inspector to enter the premises of a distributor of fuel

products. Under current law, an inspector may enter only the premises of a

manufacturer, vendor, dealer, or user of fuel products.

8. Requires that fuel product dispensing devices be marked or labeled in a

conspicuous place with the octane rating, if any, of the fuel product being dispensed.

Current law requires these devices to be marked only with the name and grade of the

fuel product being dispensed.

9. Revises the testing method for determining the flash point of certain fuel

products.

10. Establishes flash point and flammability standards for fuel products that

are delivered, placed, or stored in a portable container and that are used in turbine

engines. The standards are the same as those that apply under current law to such

fuel products used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines.