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Bill would let small rental businesses dispense fuel by the gallon with accuracy controls, owner says
Summary
House Bill 4,679 would allow small rental companies to dispense fuel by the gallon using up to a 110‑gallon tank with a flow meter accurate to ±1%, instead of requiring commercial-style pumps; owner witnesses said current rules forced them to charge for full tanks and exposed them to fines.
Scott Erman and the owner of Deluxe Rental testified that House Bill 4,679 would allow small rental companies to dispense fuel in gallon increments using a 110‑gallon tank outfitted with a flow meter accurate to plus or minus 1 percent. The owner said current enforcement requires full‑tank sales or expensive pump infrastructure, and described past fines from weights and measures for dispersing fuel from unregulated pumps and the risk of large per‑occurrence fines.
The owner told the committee the practice of charging by the tank forces small firms to absorb small fuel shortfalls rather than charge customers for partial fills, hurting their competitiveness. Representative Liberati moved to report the bill with recommendation and the clerk recorded a roll call showing 9 ayes, 0 nays, and 0 pass, carrying the motion in committee.
Committee discussion noted the business rationale and enforcement history; the testimony described proposed technical safeguards (flow meter accuracy and tank-size limits) intended to protect consumers and ensure measurement integrity.
