GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2013
SESSION LAW 2013-344
SENATE BILL 454
AN ACT to clarify the authority of the Gasoline and oil inspection board to regulate petroleum device technicians.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 119‑33 reads as rewritten:
"§ 119‑33. Investigation and inspection of measuring equipment; devices calculated to falsify measures.
(a) The gasoline and
oil inspectors shall be required to investigate and inspect the equipment for
measuring gasoline, kerosene, lubricating oil, and other liquid petroleum
products. Said The inspectors shall be under the supervision of
the Commissioner of Agriculture, and are hereby vested with the same power and
authority now given by law to inspectors of weights and measures, insofar as
the same may be necessary in order to effectuate the provisions of
this Article. The rules, regulations, specifications and tolerance limits as
promulgated by the National Conference of on Weights and
Measures, and recommended by the United States Bureau of Standards, National
Institute of Standards and Technology, shall be observed by said inspectors
insofar as they apply to the inspection of equipment used in measuring
gasoline, kerosene, lubricating oil and other petroleum products. Inspectors of
weights and measures appointed and maintained by the various counties and
cities of the State shall have the same power and authority given by this
section to inspectors under the supervision of the Commissioner of Agriculture.
In all cases where it is found, after inspection, that the measuring equipment
used in connection with the distribution of such products is inaccurate, the
inspector shall condemn and seize all incorrect devices which in his best
judgment are not susceptible of satisfactory repair,cannot be
satisfactorily repaired, but such as are incorrect, and in his best
judgmentmeasuring equipment, that in the judgment of the inspector
may be repaired, he shall mark or tagshall be marked or tagged as
"condemned for repairs" in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of
Agriculture. After notice in writing the owners or users of such measuring
devices which have been condemned for repairs shall have the same devices
repaired and corrected within 10 days,days by a registered
petroleum device technician, and the neither the owners and/ornor
the users thereof of the devices shall neither use nor
or dispose of said the measuring devices in any
manner, but shall hold the same devices at the disposal of the
gasoline and oil inspector. The inspector shall confiscate and destroy all
measuring devices which have been condemned for repairs and have not been
repaired as required by this Article. The gasoline and oil inspectors shall
officially seal all dispensing pumps or other dispensing devices found to be
accurate on inspection,inspection. and if,The finding,
upon inspection at a later date, that any pump is found to be inaccurate
and the seal broken, the same shall constitute prima facie evidence of
intent to defraud by giving inaccurate measure, and (i) the owner and/or,
(ii) the user, or (iii) both of them thereof shall be guilty
of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Any person other than a registered petroleum
device technician who shall remove or breakremoves or breaks
any seal placed upon said a measuring and/oror
dispensing devices device by said inspectorsany oil and
gas inspector until the provisions of this section have been complied with
shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Any person, firm, or corporation who shall
sell or havesells or has in his possession for the purpose of
selling or using any measuring device to be used or calculated to be used to
falsify any measure shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
(b) The Gasoline and Oil Inspection Board may adopt rules to provide for the registration of petroleum device technicians. The rules may establish qualifications for registration and may also establish grounds for the suspension or revocation of registration. The annual fee for registration of a petroleum device technician shall be twenty dollars ($20.00)."
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 18th day of July, 2013.
s/ Daniel J. Forest
President of the Senate
s/ Thom Tillis
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Pat McCrory
Governor
Approved 4:30 p.m. this 23rd day of July, 2013