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Gas Cans Redesigned to Improve Safety and Reduce Spillage
by Kelly Burke updated 02/27/2019 The Spruce

Government regulations

Portable fuel containers, commonly known as gas cans, are designed and manufactured under strict specifications set by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The current EPA requirements have been in effect since 2009 and include design features that minimize air pollution and improve safety.

What Is a Portable Fuel Container?

A portable fuel container (PFC) is a receptacle specifically designed to hold small amounts of liquid fuel. The containers can range in size from 1 quart to 5 gallons or more. They are commonly used by homeowners to store fuel for lawn mowers, snow blowers, and other small-engine equipment. The EPA estimates that there are about 80 million PFCs in use in the United States.

PFCs typically are color-coded for various fuels:

• Red containers are intended for gasoline and other highly flammable liquids.
• Blue containers are used for storing kerosene.
• Yellow containers are used for diesel fuel.
• Green containers typically are designed for storing oil.

  What Are the New Regulations?

  The current EPA regulations are based on requirements started in California by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2000 and were updated in 2007. At that time, regulation of PFC design and manufacture was controlled by individual states, but that changed with the current EPA standards. As of January 1, 2009, all new PFCs produced and sold in the United States must be compliant with the EPA regulations.

  The regulations require:

• A single, self-venting opening for filling and pouring with no separate vents or openings.
• A permeation-resistant container that permits no more than 0.3 grams per gallon per day of hydrocarbon emissions.
• Automatic closure, such as a nozzle that automatically springs to the closed position when the user is not pouring from the container.
• Childproof features as outlined by the Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act

  Facts Behind the EPA Regulations

• At the time the current regulations went into effect, there were an estimated 3.27 billion gallons of fuel dispensed by over 80 million PFCs in the United States. This resulted in an estimated 70,262 gallons of spilled fuel annually.
• The danger of spilled or evaporated fuels comes in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that escape into the atmosphere whenever gas leaves a container.
• The current regulations focus on the ability of VOCs to permeate through the material and fittings of the container as well as emissions released when pouring out fuel or when container caps are left off or left open during storage. VOCs are considered a greenhouse gas, and their release can also contaminate groundwater.
• Childproof features on PFCs are intended to prevent access to fuels by children under age 5. These requirements are part of the Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act enacted by Congress in 2008.

  What to Do With Old Gas Cans

  It is legal to continue to use old PFCs that don't conform to the current EPA guidelines, but switching to a new compliant container offers improved safety and reduced potential for environmental damage. The new regulations apply only to new containers, and there are no requirements for homeowners to replace old containers. However, some municipalities have exchange programs in place where you can swap your old PFCs for new, compliant version.

Note: The current PFC regulations do not apply to OSHA-approved metal safety containers, which are mainly used in commercial applications.

Your New Gas Can Still Doesn’t Work

by Jeffrey A. Tucker, American Institute for Economic Research , Friday, December 14, 2018

It’s been a few years since I’ve looked at gas cans available for purchase. I’m looking now at Walmart. Nothing has changed. You still can’t get one that works properly. Whatever you buy will not pour properly. It has no valve to release air so it blows up and shrinks depending on the weather. It is likely to spill when you have to use it. Here’s to hoping you saved your old cans before modern regulations ruined them. If you didn’t, you are either going to end up with a non-functioning can or spend Saturday hacking your new can with one of these many kits you can buy online.

I love this reviewer’s comment:

I love using new gas cans with the safety, spill proof spouts as much as the next guy - I mean who doesn't love standing there with a full 5 gallon can inverted for 15 minutes while approximately one quart a minute flows out of the spout and no less than half of that quart escapes from every "sealed" seam, threaded fitting, and valve on the safety spout, spilling onto top of your fuel tank, shoes, hands, and best of all, the still quite hot motor of whatever you're filling. But, that being said, I realized one day that I'm a grown man with better things to do, with children who need a father who isn't covered in third degree burn scars because some HIPPIE in California is convinced leaking gas can vapors is what the real global warming problem is, and the industry is just as good at making leak-proof safety gas can valves as they are mousetraps, and generally speaking, dying in a burst of flames when a "safety" spout leaks fuel onto a hot exhaust seems like such an ironic and anti-climatic way to go.

That’s some white-hot anger right there. Rightly so. The gas can is broken. The regulators broke it. Despite gazillion complaints on every conceivable forum, nothing is changing. The regulation sticks.

Regulations began in 2000, with the idea of preventing spillage. The notion began in California, spread, and was picked up by the EPA, which is always looking for new and innovative ways to mandate as much human misery as possible.
An ominous regulatory announcement from the EPA came in 2007: “Starting with containers manufactured in 2009… it is expected that the new cans will be built with a simple and inexpensive permeation barrier and new spouts that close automatically.”

The government never said “no vents.” It abolished them de facto with new standards that every state had to adopt by 2009. So for the last ten years, you have not been able to buy gas cans that work properly. They are not permitted to have a separate vent. The top has to close automatically. There are other silly things now, too, but the biggest problem is that they do not do well what cans are supposed to do. And don’t tell me about spillage. The reviewer above is correct. It is far more likely to spill when the gas is gurgling out in various uneven ways, when one spout has to both pour and suck in air. That’s when the lawn mower tank becomes suddenly full without warning, when you are shifting the can this way and that just to get the stuff out. There’s also the problem of the exploding can. On hot days, the plastic models to which this regulation applies can blow up like balloons. When you release the top, gas flies everywhere, including possibly on a hot engine. Then the trouble really begins.

Never heard of this rule? You will know about it if you go to the local store. Most people buy one or two of these items in the course of a lifetime, so you might otherwise have not encountered this outrage. Yet let enough time go by. A whole generation will come to expect these things to work badly. Then some wise young entrepreneur will have the bright idea, “Hey, let’s put a hole on the other side so this can work properly.” But he will never be able to bring it into production. The government won’t allow it because it is protecting us!

Five years ago, hardly anyone even mentioned this problem. Now complaints are everywhere. The main sites that seem to have discussed this are the boating forums and the lawn forums. These are the people who use these cans more than most. The level of anger and vitriol is amazing to read, and every bit of it is justified. There is no possible rationale for these kinds of regulations. It can’t be about emissions really, since the new cans are more likely to result in spills. It’s as if some bureaucrat were sitting around thinking of ways to make life worse for everyone, and hit upon this new rule.

You are already thinking of hacks. Why not just stab the thing with a knife and be done with it? If you have to transport the can in the car, that’s a problem. You need a way to plug the vent with something. You can drill a hole and put a tire stem in there and use the screw top as the way to close the hole. Great idea. Just what I wanted to do with my Saturday afternoon. You can also buy an old-time metal can. It turns out that special regulations pertain here, too, and it’s all about the spout, which is not easy to fill. They are also unusually expensive. I’m not sure that either of these options is ideal.

Ask yourself this: If they can wreck such a normal and traditional item like this, and do it largely under the radar screen, what else have they mandatorily malfunctioned? How many other things in our daily lives have been distorted, deformed and destroyed by government regulations? If some product annoys you in surprising ways, there’s a good chance that it is not the invisible hand at work, but rather the regulatory grip that is squeezing the life out of our normal consumer products.

When Can I See You Again? - Owl City

When can we do this again?
When can I see you again?
When can we do this again?
When can I see you again?
When can we do this again?
When can I see you again?

Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you
Go see the world ‘cause it’s all so brand new
Don’t close your eyes ‘cause your future's ready to shine
It’s just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly
Welcome to the rhythm of the night
There’s something in the air you can’t deny

It’s been fun but now I’ve got to go
Life is way too short to take it slow
But before I go and hit the road
I gotta know, ‘til then,
When can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh
When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
When can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh
I gotta know, when can I see you again?
(When can I see you again?)

Joined at the hip, yeah your sidekick needs you
Life is a trip down the road that leads you
Look all around at all the mountains you haven’t climbed
It’s just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly
Welcome to the rhythm of the night
There’s something in the air you can’t deny

It’s been fun but now I’ve got to go
Life is way too short to take it slow
But before I go and hit the road
I gotta know, ‘til then,
When can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh
When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
When can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh
I gotta know,
When can I see you again?

Don’t close your eyes ‘cause your future's ready to shine
It’s just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly
Welcome to the rhythm of the night
There’s something in the air you can’t deny
So let me know before I wave goodbye

When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
When can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh
When can I see you again?
Oh oh oh oh
When can we do this again?
Oh oh oh oh

Yeah, it’s been fun but now I’ve got to go
Life is way too short to take it slow
But before I go and hit the road
Tell me when
When can I see you again?
When can I see you again?
Tell me when
When can I see you again?

Songwriters: Matt Thiessen / Brian Lee / Adam Young
When Can I See You Again? lyrics © Walt Disney Music Company