Inside the ruling that struck down California’s disposable propane cylinder ban

On Sept. 8, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an administrative determination that upended one of California’s more ambitious waste-reduction laws: Senate Bill 1280, which would have banned the sale of single-use, 1-pound propane cylinders starting Jan. 1, 2028.

PHMSA concluded that the state’s requirement – that all such cylinders sold in California be refillable or reusable – is preempted by the federal Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA). The decision closes (for now) an eight-month regulatory proceeding and reopens a long-running argument over how far states can go in regulating hazardous-materials packaging when federal rules already exist.

SB 1280, authored by state Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2024, targeted the ubiquitous green 1-pound propane canisters used in camp stoves, portable heaters and lanterns. California officials estimated that 4 to 7 million of the cylinders are sold in the state annually and that local governments spend as much as $65 per cylinder to manage and dispose of them safely, given the risk that a cylinder is never fully empty when discarded.

Laird argued the cylinders had become a persistent burden on state infrastructure, saying “these propane cylinders have placed a great burden on our park systems, beaches, material recovery facilities and local governments.” The bill passed with bipartisan support and backing from local governments, waste authorities and firefighter groups, and it gave manufacturers nearly four years to adapt before the sales ban took effect.

Doug Kobold, executive director of the California Product Stewardship Council, which sponsored the bill, framed it as the start of a broader shift away from disposable packaging, noting the law was “starting the nearly four-year clock to transition consumers away from” single-use cylinders toward refillable alternatives – an infrastructure that already exists at hundreds of refill and exchange locations statewide.

Worthington Enterprises, a major manufacturer of the disposable cylinders targeted by the law, filed an application with PHMSA in late 2025, asking the agency to declare SB 1280 preempted. Under 49 U.S.C. § 5125, the HMTA can preempt a non-federal requirement on three grounds: when compliance with both state and federal law is impossible, when the state law is “not substantively the same” as a federal standard covering the same subject or when it stands as an obstacle to federal objectives. 

Worthington argued California’s law failed on two of those fronts – that it imposed design and manufacturing requirements not substantively identical to existing federal cylinder standards and that it created a patchwork obstacle to a national hazmat transportation system built around uniformity. The company also warned that removing a cylinder design with what it characterized as a long safety record would raise costs for manufacturers and consumers alike.

California pushed back hard. Attorney General Rob Bonta submitted a comment letter defending the statute, arguing the state’s approach didn’t regulate cylinder design or manufacture at all – only what could be sold at retail – and therefore fell outside the scope of federal preemption. He said flatly that “California’s law is a commonsense measure,” while his office emphasized the safety risks and cleanup costs disposable cylinders impose on waste workers and local governments. The docket drew 17 public comments, including rebuttal filings from local hazardous-waste and code-enforcement officials who described firsthand experience with cylinders puncturing during collection and igniting at transfer stations.

In its September notice, PHMSA sided with Worthington, finding that SB 1280’s design and manufacturing mandates conflict with the uniform national standards Congress intended the HMTA to establish and that a state-specific manufacturing requirement threatens to disrupt the national supply chain for a widely used consumer product.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy framed the ruling as part of a broader deregulatory push, saying, “Thanks to President Trump, the federal government’s war on fossil fuels is over.” PHMSA Administrator Paul Roberti struck a similar note, tying the decision to consumer costs and access to outdoor recreation. The agency’s release pointed to support in the docket from members of Congress, other state attorneys general and industry associations as evidence that preemption served a broader interest in regulatory uniformity.

Beneath the political framing, the case turns on a narrower legal question that shows up again and again in hazmat preemption disputes: where does a state’s police-power authority over retail sales and waste management end and where does the federal government’s authority over the design and transport of hazardous-materials packaging begin?

California’s lawyers argued SB 1280 was a downstream sales restriction, not a container specification. PHMSA’s determination effectively treated “must be refillable” as a de facto design mandate – since only certain cylinder constructions can be refilled safely – placing it squarely inside the HMTA’s preempted territory.

PHMSA’s determination is an administrative ruling, not a court judgment, and California has signaled it intends to keep fighting. The state could seek judicial review in federal court, and the National Propane Gas Association has separately noted growing interest from other states, including Vermont, in similar product stewardship rules for disposable cylinders – meaning this fight is unlikely to be the last word on the subject, in California or elsewhere.

For now, though, the 1-pound canisters that fuel countless camp stoves and lanterns remain legal to sell in California indefinitely, and the broader question of how much room states have to regulate hazardous-materials packaging without running into federal preemption remains as contested as ever.

Gordon Feller is a Global Fellow: The Smithsonian Institution; a White House appointee of a federal commission advising the U.S. secretary of energy; and an adviser to U.S.-based companies.

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