Hazardous Materials: California's Reusability Mandate for Propane Cylinders
Issued by Transportation Department
The Federal Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA), 49 U.S.C. 5101 et seq., preempts California's reusability mandate for propane cylinders in California Public Resources Code, Sections 42395- 42395.2. The reusability mandate imposes localized design and manufacturing requirements on a container that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in the transportation of a hazardous material--specifically, propane--that are not substantively the same as the requirements in the HMR. The reusability mandate is also an obstacle to accomplishing and carrying out the HMTA. By banning a federally authorized, safety-compliant packaging based on localized waste management preferences, California creates a fragmented regulatory patchwork that undermines the primacy and uniformity of the Federal transportation safety framework.
This is a factual description of what was issued or decided, not an assessment of it.