75-55-15 - Container or distributing device to indicate manufacturer or distributor or trade name of product; penalties.
§ 75-55-15. Container or distributing device to indicate manufacturer or distributor or trade name of product; penalties.
No person shall store, keep, expose for sale, offer for sale, or sell from any tank or container or from any pump or other distributing device or equipment, any gasoline, alcohol blended fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene, illuminating oil, or lubricating oils or other similar products than those indicated by the name, trade name, symbol, or sign of the manufacturer or distributor of the trademark or trade name of the product appearing upon the tank, container, pump, or other distributing equipment from which the same are sold, offered for sale or distributed; provided that the product of any manufacturer may be sold from distributing equipment not bearing the name, trade name, symbol or sign of any manufacturer. Provided further, that no distributor or other person shall deliver any gasoline, alcohol blended fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene, illuminating oils, or other similar products when such products are for resale to the consuming public and place said products in storage tanks, containers, or other devices when such storage tanks, containers, or other devices are labeled contrary to the true nature of the products being delivered or when such storage tanks, containers, or other devices bear any sign, symbol, trademark, or label not reflecting the true sign, symbol, trademark or name of the product being delivered.
All distributors or other persons receiving, storing, selling or distributing gasoline, alcohol blended fuel or oil in the State of Mississippi shall have plainly marked on the tanks, pumps, or other containers in which gasoline, alcohol blended fuel or oil is kept, words designating whether the product is gasoline, alcohol blended fuel or oil. No distributor or other person shall place any gasoline in a container marked oil or alcohol blended fuel, or any oil in a container marked gasoline or alcohol blended fuel, or alcohol blended fuel in any container marked gasoline or oil, nor shall there be any pipe or other connections between oil, gasoline and alcohol blended fuel containers. Provided, however, that nothing in this or any other law shall be construed to prohibit the use at common carrier pipeline terminals, of the same unloading lines to and between gasoline, alcohol blended fuel, and oil bulk storage stations, where adequate precautions have been taken to prevent contamination or adulteration of either oil, gasoline or alcohol blended fuel. No distributor or other person shall receive, store or distribute oil as gasoline or alcohol blended fuel nor gasoline as oil or alcohol blended fuel, nor alcohol blended fuel as oil or gasoline nor shall any distributor or other person make a false statement to the commissioner or his successor or any of his employees with reference to products received, stored, sold or delivered by such distributor or other person.
No distributor or other person shall sell or distribute or offer for sale or distribution gasoline and oil, or either, when such gasoline or oil, or either, is mixed, blended, or adulterated in this state in any manner or with any other product. Provided, however, this section shall not be construed to prevent any purchaser of gasoline and oil, or either, to adulterate such products after purchase to meet requirements of his individual uses and purposes, but in no event shall such purchaser sell or distribute such adulterated products, and it is not intended to levy a tax on crude oil produced in this state. Provided further, that blending pumps from which gasoline and lubricating oil are dispensed at the same time into a fuel tank or other container as marine fuel, may be installed by a distributor upon the prior issuance of a permit so to do by the commissioner or his successor, when said pumps shall have been approved by the Underwriter's Laboratories, Inc. Provided further, that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit the manufacture of alcohol blended fuel.
Blending of grades of gasoline, additives, and compounds shall be limited to refineries, terminals, and blending pumps, and no person other than those employed at aforesaid facilities shall be permitted to blend any of the above-named products. Provided, however, that gasoline may be blended with alcohol to form alcohol blended fuel at other locations in the State of Mississippi as may be designated and licensed by the commissioner.
Any person guilty of violating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for the first such offense and not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each such offense thereafter, and the penalty shall extend to principal and agent alike.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 5089; Laws, 1938, ch. 145; Laws, 1946, ch. 263, § 9; Laws, 1966, ch. 624, § 4; Laws, 1969, Ex Sess, ch. 24, § 5; Laws, 1980, ch. 417, § 4; Laws, 1990, ch. 450, § 7, eff from and after passage (approved March 20, 1990).