Chap. 477.—An ACT to provide for the inspection and to regulate the distribution
of gasoline, naphtha, benzine, and other liquids and fluids used, or intended to
be used, for power pu purposes; "and to provide penalties for the violation of the
provisions of this act (S B 139]

Approved March 24, 1924. :

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, as follows:
1. The term “gasoline,” wherever used in this act, shall be con-
strued to include naphtha, benzine and other like liquids and fluids de-
rived from petroleum and used (or intended to be used), for power
purposes, except kerosene, fuel oils, furnace oils and gas oils.

2. All gasoline used, or intended to be used, or sold or offered for
sale or distribution in this State, for power purposes, except as above
provided, shall be subject to inspection and test for the purpose of pre-
venting adultcration, deception or fraud in the sale thereof. All manu-
facturers, wholesalers, and jobbers, before selling or offering for sale in
this State any gasoline for the purposes herein defined, shall file with
the commissioner of agriculture and immigration a statement that they
desire to do business in this State, and furnish the name or brand of the
gasoline which they desire to sell, with the name and address of the
manufacturer, producer, or refiner, and that the gasoline will comply
with the requirements of this act. The said commissioner shall have
power at all times and at all places to have collected samples of anv
gasoline offered for sale in this State and have the same analyzed. The
inspection of such gasoline shall be under the direction of the board of
agriculture and immigration, which is authorized to make all necessary
rules and regulations for the inspection of such gasoline and the en-
forcement of this act. |

In making any inspections of gasoline under this act, the said board
shal] follow the ‘‘properties and tests” for motor gasoline of the Federal
specification board, as the same now are or may be hereafter amended,
and shall make such inspection in accordance with the methods pre-
scribed and established by the said board, providing that for cause after
hearing, said specifications can be amended by the board of agriculture
and immigration, providing that before such changes are effective
ninety days notice shall be given in writing to all companies reporting
the sale of gasoline in this State.

3. The inspectors now in the employ of the department of agricul-
ture and inimigration shall, in addition to the duties now imposed, make
inspections of gasoline as herein required under the supervision of the
commissioner of agriculture and immigration. Such inspectors shall,
as directed, collect samples of gasoline offered for sale in this State and
send the same to the commissioner of agriculture and immigration for
examination.

4. When bulk gasoline is received in vessels, tanks, tank cars or
other large containers, from other States or nations, the person, firm,
or corporation so receiving gasoline in this State shall, on the day the
shipment is received, give notice thereof in writing to the commissioner
of agriculture and immigration, which notice shall give the name and
address of the shipper, together with the number of gallons contained
in such shipment.

5. Whenever a complaint is made to the commissioner of agricul-
ture and immigration in regard to the quality of any gasoline sold in this
State, the said commissioner shall cause a sample of the gasoline com-
plained of to be procured and shall have the same thoroughly analyzed
and tested to determine whether or not it conforms to said properties
and tests of the Federal specification board as may be amended as herein
provided by the board of agriculture and immigration, under the pro-
visions of this act, or is as represented by the dealer. If the analysis or
other tests show that the gasoline is not as represented or that it does
not meet said properties and tests of the Federal specification board as
may be amended as herein provided by the board of agriculture and im-
migration, its sale shall be forbidden, and a report of the result or re-
sults of such analysis or tests shall be sent to the party making the com-
plaint, to the dealers offering such gasoline for sale, and to the manu-
facturer thereof.

6. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of agriculture and immi-
gration to publish at least annually in a bulletin of the department of
agriculture and immigration the rules and regulations established by
the board of agriculture and immigration for the purpose of carrying
into effect the provisions of this act.

7. All materials, fluids or substances offered or exposed for sale,
purporting to be substitutes for motor fuel or improvers thereof shall be
submitted to the commissioner of agriculture and immigration for ex-
amination and inspection, and shall only be sold or offered for sale
when properly labeled with a label.

8. Every person delivering at wholesale or retail any gasoline in this
State shall deliver the same to the purchaser only in tanks, barrels,
casks, cans or other containers having the word “‘gasoline,”’ in English,
plainly stenciled or labeled thereon, to meet the requirements and regu-
lations adopted by the board of agriculture and immigration under this
act, except that where gasoline is delivered in bulk from tank wagons
the cans used in such deliveries may be painted red and the word ‘‘gaso-
Jine’”’ need not be stenciled thereon, and except, further, that where
deliveries of gasoline are made in tank wagons having more than one
compartment it shall only be necessary that the spigot on the pipe
leading from the gasoline compartments shall have attached thereto a
tag with the’ word “gas” in English plainly stenciled thereon. Such
dealer shall not deliver gasoline in any barrels, casks, cans, tank wagons,
or other container, which has not been stenciled, painted or labeled as
hereinbefore provided. Every person purchasing gasoline for sale shall
procure and keep the same only in tanks, barrels, casks, cans or other
container stenciled or labeled as hereinbefore provided; provided, that
nothing in this section shall prohibit the delivery of gasoline by hose or
pipe from a tank directly into the tank of any automobile or any other
motor: provided further, that in case gasoline is sold in bottles, cans or
packages of not more than one gallon for cleaning and other similar
purposes, the label shall also bear the words ‘‘unsafe when exposed to
heat or fire.”’

9. Any person, firm, company, or corporation violating any of the
provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon con-
viction thereof shall be fined not less than ten dollars and not more than
one thousand dollars. Any dealer in gasoline who receives gasoline
meeting the requirements of this act and who thereafter adulterates
any such gasoline or mixes it with inferior gasoline so that the resulting
product does not meet the requirements of this act shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and punishable accordingly.

10. It shall be the duty of the board of agriculture and immigra-
tion to enforce the provisions of this act.

Section 11. Cities, towns, municipalities, counties, and other politi-
cal subdivisions of this State are prohibited from passing any laws or
ordinances relating to the inspection and testing of the petroleum prod-
ucts named in section 1 of this act inconsistent with the provisions of
this act.

Section 12. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from
its passage.