By Gregory Thomas, Staff Writer
 

The Trump administration this week moved to block California’s plan to phase out sales of the single-use propane cylinders that campers use to fuel their camping stoves.

A California law passed in 2024 would ban sales of disposable one-pound propane products — the handheld, forest-green canisters made by Coleman and Bernzomatic — beginning in 2028. Advocates say switching to reusable cylinders — which can be refilled at home or through a canister-exchange program — will save consumers money and cut down on hazardous waste.

In a Tuesday announcement, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration sought to squash the move, calling the forthcoming ban “radical” and “unlawful” and decrying it as a “climate scam mandate.” The administration claimed that eliminating the commonly used gas canisters with which campers are familiar would force consumers to buy “more expensive and heavier alternatives.”

“While the state’s radical leadership pushes burdensome regulations that raise prices and stifle consumer choice, the Trump administration is cutting red tape and protecting American families from pointless laws,” PHMSA Administrator Paul Roberti said in a statement.

The hazardous materials administration issued its decision this week after the California law was challenged by Worthington Enterprises, the Ohio manufacturer of the single-use cylinders sold by Coleman and Bernzomatic. Worthington had lobbied against iterations of the California legislation before it was signed into law, then took its argument to the federal government last year.

In a determination published this week, the PHMSA said that federal regulations concerning the transportation of hazardous materials preempt California’s forthcoming ban.

In a Tuesday statement, Sen. John Laird, who oversees the region from Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo and championed the single-use cylinder sales ban, called the federal government’s determination “a disastrous decision for our environment.”

Between 4.5 million and 7 million of the disposable canisters are sold in California each year, according to the California Product Stewardship Council, a nonprofit coalition that advocated for the sales ban.

Processing the used canisters requires special machinery. But an estimated 3 million of them are improperly thrown away and wind up in waste facilities where they can explode, posing dangers to workers, according to a comment Attorney General Rob Bonta sent to the PHMSA earlier this year as a rebuttal of Worthington’s appeal.

Bonta’s office did not immediately reply to a Chronicle inquiry about this week’s determination.

In arguing that federal regulations do not preempt California law, Bonta pointed out that refillable 20-gallon propane tanks — the ones that fuel backyard gas barbecue grills — have been commonplace in U.S. households for decades.

Retailers in California like Ace Hardware, Home Depot and REI already sell reusable one-pound propane canisters. There are also exchange programs in the state through which consumers can swap an empty camping propane cylinder for a full one.

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle.