California Sues Trump Administration to Defend State Law Banning Sale of Non-Reusable Propane Cylinders
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in Oakland on October 29 that California has sued the Trump Administration to defend the state law prohibiting the sale of non-reusable propane cylinders. The law, Senate Bill 1280, authored by Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), prohibits, with limited exceptions, the sale in California of certain non-reusable and non-fillable propane cylinders beginning January 1, 2028.
Propane cylinders are single-use, generally one-pound containers used in applications such as camping stoves, portable heaters, and lanterns. According to the Attorney General's Office, when disposed of into the waste stream they pose a significant explosion and fire risk, environmental and health impacts, and a costly burden on local governments to safely manage. The purpose of California's law is to reduce the volume of propane cylinders that are being improperly disposed of in the municipal waste stream and that threaten the safety of waste pickup, landfill, and recycling workers.
The lawsuit challenges an administrative determination by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that SB 1280 is preempted by the federal Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA). California is petitioning for judicial review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to vacate the determination.
"Once again, the Trump Administration is trying to overrule California's laws aimed at protecting public safety, health, and the environment," said Attorney General Rob Bonta. "Let's be clear about what this law does: It will protect workers and the environment from residual propane explosions and save local governments millions of tax dollars in waste management costs. We'll continue to fight against the Administration's federal overreach armed with the law and facts on our side."
Senator John Laird said he authored SB 1280 to save taxpayers the cost of disposing of used propane canisters and to protect workers and communities from the fire and explosion risks posed by propane cylinders thrown away in parks and beaches. "Let's be clear: this law doesn't ban propane. It simply replaces dangerous single-use cylinders with refillable alternatives," he said.
According to the Attorney General's Office, although propane cylinders are required to be disposed of as hazardous waste, an estimated 3 million of the estimated 4 million one-pound, single-use propane cylinders sold in California each year are placed into municipal waste streams. These cylinders often contain residual gas of which the user is unaware, and when damaged or crushed in a waste hauling truck, sorting facility, landfill, or recycling facility, the residual gas may explode or catch fire, causing injury.
On January 9, 2026, PHMSA published a notice that Worthington Enterprises, Inc., an Ohio-based manufacturer of disposable propane cylinders, had asked PHMSA to determine that the HMTA preempts SB 1280, and the Attorney General submitted a comment letter defending the law. On September 10, 2026, PHMSA published its determination that SB 1280 is preempted. California's suit asks the court to recognize that the HMTA and the federal Hazardous Materials Regulations do not preempt SB 1280, because the regulations authorize refillable propane cylinders that are widely available and because SB 1280 does not regulate the transportation of disposable propane cylinders, and to strike down PHMSA's preemption determination.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Sacramento 的加州议会大厦正面。Andre m 摄，经 Wikimedia Commons，授权 CC BY-SA 3.0。 / Photo: The California State Capitol in Sacramento. Photo by Andre m, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
