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favorite fair food is grilled, boiled, or fried, propane is the need to protect confidential business information,
there to cook your meal to perfection! benefits to companies and workers, and increased

So, whether you’re attending a fair in Califor- wages and benefits. The comment further discussed
nia or Connecticut, we all can appreciate the fact that the Federal Trade Commission’s overreach in propos-
propane is behind the scenes working hard to make ing the rule.
our favorite summer pastime a success. For more NPGA will monitor legal challenges and up-
information, contact NPGA’s Director of State Affairs, date membership on enforcement. If you have ques-
Jacob Peterson.■ tions, please contact Director of Regulatory Affairs and
Associate General Counsel Kate Gaziano.■
FMCSA Removes Two ELDs
On August 15, 2024, the Federal Motor Carri- WPGA Sues CARB Over Forklift Rulemaking
er Safety Administration (FMCSA) removed the follow- Last week, the Western Propane Gas Associ-
ing ELDs (Electronic Logging Devices) from the list of ation (WPGA) filed a lawsuit in state court against the
registered ELDs due to the providers’ failure to meet California Air Resources Board (CARB) in regards to
the minimum requirements established in 49 CFR part the agency’s Zero-Emission Forklift Rulemaking, which
395, subpart B, appendix A. was approved in June. This new CARB regulation will
Motor carriers and drivers who use the ELDs prohibit the production and sale of large, spark-ignit-
listed above must discontinue using the revoked ELDs ed (LSI) forklifts for the California market, and require
and revert to paper logs or logging software to record the early retirement of LSI forklifts currently in opera-
required hours of service data and replace the re- tion. Both the ban on new sales and the early retire-
voked ELDs with compliant ELDs from the Registered ment mandate will affect propane-powered forklifts
Devices list before October 14, 2024. and the businesses who rely on them. WPGA’s lawsuit
asserts that CARB’s actions violate provisions of state
ELD/Model # ELD Identifier ELD Provider
law and the California Constitution.
BLUE STAR ELD/BRS BRS153 BLUE STAR ELD INC
Colin Sueyres, President and CEO of the
RELIABLE ELD/RRS RRS121 Reliable ELD Inc Western Propane Gas Association, has been directly
Questions? Contact Director of Regulatory engaged and working to combat this regulation since
Affairs and Associate General Counsel Kate Gaziano.■ it was first proposed. “California’s ill-planned effort to
kill the propane forklift will have far reaching conse-
Major Legal Victory: Federal Court Strikes Down quences across our industry, and not just in our state,”
FTC’s Non-Compete Ban said Sueyres. “Allowing California to single-handedly

In a major legal victory on Tuesday, August 20, set the market for forklifts would imperil millions
2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District upon millions of propane gallons in every state in the
of Texas set aside the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) union as forklift manufacturers expand battery-elec-
ban on employment noncompete agreements. Be- tric production lines. WPGA welcomes assistance from
cause the Court’s decision has a nationwide effect, the all those concerned about our transportation gallons
ban will not go into effect as scheduled on September across the country to join our effort.”
4, 2024 unless there is a contrary subsequent court As of the 2022 industry sales report, California
ruling. was the largest propane market in the country, with
Last year NPGA joined almost 300 other as- 539 million gallons of fuel sold. For more information
sociations (including the Chamber of Commerce, the or questions, please contact NPGA’s Director of State
plaintiff in this lawsuit) representing 45 states to submit Affairs, Jacob Peterson.■
a joint comment to the Federal Trade Commission re-
garding their proposed rule to ban non-compete claus-
es. NPGA also spoke out against the rule making at a
public listening session. The joint comment stressed

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