RCRC opposes Senate Bill 1193 (Menjivar), which threatens the viability of rural airports by directing them to prohibit the sale of low-leaded 100 octane gasoline (the single commercial standard aviation fuel). This measure poses particularly significant impacts to rural airports.
Specifically, low-leaded 100 octane gasoline is the only type of fuel compatible with the entirety of the piston-engine airplane fleet flown in RCRC counties. Its sale also serves as a major revenue source for several airports which rely on fuel sales to stay operational. The public health imperative to eliminate leaded fuel in transportation gasoline is intended to eliminate health risks; however, sufficient alternatives are not available on the market at this time. There is currently no airport commercially selling unleaded aviation gasoline, nor is there an unleaded gasoline product on the market that meets both Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety standards and industry standards.
Further, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 explicitly prohibits all airports that sold low-leaded aviation gas at any point in 2022 from restricting or prohibiting the sale of that same fuel until the end of 2030, unless the FAA validates and certifies an unleaded alternative before then. This bill puts California airport operators in the position of having to violate state law to comply with federal law in order to avoid being fined the penalty of $5000 a day; or to violate federal law by complying with state law.
Although SB 1193 was amended to allow counties to delay the requirement by a year for an unleaded gas switch with a vote of their boards of supervisors, the mechanism opens the county to litigation challenges.
This measure places local airports in financial jeopardy and local governments at significant litigation risk, with a timeline only slightly more ambitious than the current federal process for certifying an unleaded alternative.
See RCRC’s letter of opposition here. For more information, contact RCRC Policy Advocate, Siddharth Nag.