Subdivision 1.Inspection requirements; blending exemptions.

The director shall:

(1) take samples, free of charge, of petroleum products wherever processed, blended, held, stored, imported, transferred, offered for sale or use, or sold in Minnesota, limiting each sample to one-half gallon;

(2) inspect and test petroleum product samples according to the methods of ASTM or other valid test methods adopted by rule, to determine whether the products comply with the specifications in section 239.761;

(3) inspect petroleum product storage tanks to ensure that the products are free from water and impurities;

(4) inspect and test samples submitted to the department by a licensed distributor, making the test results available to the distributor;

(5) inspect the labeling, price posting, and price advertising of petroleum product dispensers and advertising signs at businesses or locations where petroleum products are sold, offered for sale or use, or dispensed into motor vehicles;

(6) maintain records of all inspections and tests according to the records retention policies of the Department of Administration;

(7) delegate to division personnel, at the director’s discretion, any or all of the responsibilities, duties, and powers in sections 239.75 to 239.80;

(8) publish test data and information to assist persons who use, produce, distribute, or sell petroleum-based heating and engine fuels;

(9) audit the records of any person responsible for the product to determine compliance with sections 239.75 to 239.792;

(10) after consulting with the commissioner, grant a temporary exemption from the gasoline-ethanol blending requirements in section 239.791 if the supply of ethanol is insufficient to produce gasoline-ethanol blends;

(11) after consulting with the commissioner, grant a temporary exemption from the diesel-biodiesel blending requirements in section 239.77, if the supply of biodiesel is insufficient to produce diesel-biodiesel blends; and

(12) adopt, as an enforcement policy for the division, reasonable margins of uncertainty for the tests used to determine compliance with the specifications in section 239.761, the oxygen percentages in section 239.791, and the octane requirements in section 239.792 and apply the margins of uncertainty to only tests performed by the division, not by adding the margins to uncertainties in tests performed by any person responsible for the product.

Subd. 2.Petroleum sample; when not meeting specifications.

When a sample does not comply with the specifications in section 239.761, the director shall reject the noncomplying product from which the sample was taken and employ any or all of the following actions to prohibit sale of the noncomplying product:

(1) issue a stop sale order to a person responsible for the product;

(2) reject and mark as rejected the pumps, meters, or other dispensers from which the noncomplying product was obtained;

(3) seal and mark as sealed the storage tanks from which the noncomplying product was obtained;

(4) issue a citation;

(5) request that a city or county attorney draft a misdemeanor complaint;

(6) when a product fails to comply with the specifications and when use of the product does not endanger the public health or safety or adversely affect the emissions characteristics of the equipment in which it is used, advise the person responsible for the product that the product must be blended with another product to bring it into compliance.

Subd. 3.

[Repealed, 1992 c 575 s 54]

Subd. 4.

[Repealed, 1992 c 575 s 54]

Subd. 5.Product quality, responsibility.

After a petroleum-based engine fuel is purchased, transferred, or otherwise removed from a refinery or terminal, the person responsible for the product shall:

(1) keep the product free from contamination with water and impurities;

(2) not blend the product with dissimilar petroleum products, for example, gasoline must not be blended with diesel fuel;

(3) not blend the product with any contaminant, dye, chemical, or additive, except:

(i) agriculturally derived, denatured ethanol that complies with the specifications in this chapter;

(ii) an antiknock additive, or an additive designed to replace tetra-ethyl lead, that is registered by the EPA;

(iii) a dye to distinguish heating fuel from low sulfur diesel fuel; or

(iv) biodiesel fuel that complies with the specifications in this chapter; and

(4) maintain a record of the name or chemical composition of the additive, with the product shipping manifest or bill of lading for one year after the date of the manifest or bill.

Subd. 6.Rejected product, responsibility.

When a product is rejected, the person responsible for the product shall blend or remove the product according to the director’s instructions. If the rejected product is blended with another product to bring it into compliance, the person responsible for the product shall provide testing and documentation, in a manner approved by the director, to prove to the director that the blended product will comply with the specifications in section 239.761. If the rejected product is removed, the person responsible for the product shall provide documentation to prove to the director that the rejected product has been removed and replaced with a product that complies with the specifications in section 239.761.