SECTIONS 13410-13413 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 13410-13413

13410. (a) No person who is engaged in the business of extracting
oil or gas from lands within the state, or of refining gasoline for
sale within the state, may refuse to sell to any city or county
sufficient quantities of his or her petroleum products for the
essential services provided by such city or county.
(b) The board of supervisors of a county or its designated county
agency, upon application for the purchase of petroleum products to
perform essential services by a city within that county, by any
agency of such city or county which performs an essential service, or
by any transit district created pursuant to law, may arrange for
such purchase and shall apportion the purchase among all persons
specified in subdivision (a) who engage in the sale of petroleum
products within that county. The board of supervisors or its
designated county agency shall, to the extent possible, apportion the
total purchase of the petroleum product on the basis of such persons'
sales of such petroleum product in the county during the most recent
90-day period for which information is available.
(c) For the purposes of this section, "essential services" means
police, fire, health, and transportation services provided by public
agencies.

13411. (a) Except as specified in subdivision (b), it is unlawful
for any person to sell or offer to sell petroleum products for use in
any vehicle, as the term vehicle is defined by the Vehicle Code, on
the condition that the purchaser also must purchase or pay for any
other products, merchandise, or services.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a person who operates a full
service car wash facility may sell or offer to sell petroleum
products for use in a vehicle on the condition that the purchaser
also must purchase car wash services, provided that all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The full service car wash facility, during the base period, as
a normal business practice sold gasoline or other motor fuels only
to customers who purchased car wash services.
(2) The retail price for car wash services charged by the facility
during any given month does not exceed the retail price for car wash
services charged by the facility during the last month of the base
period except by an amount equivalent to that which is produced by
multiplying the retail price charged for car wash services during the
last month of the base period by the percentage by which the figure
representing the California Consumer Price Index as compiled and
reported by the California Department of Industrial Relations has
increased in the period beginning with the last month of the base
period and ending with the given month.
(3) The full service car wash facility sells or offers to sell in
conjunction with the car wash services not less than ten gallons of
gasoline with each purchase of such car wash services.
(4) The full service car wash facility when conditioning the sale
of gasoline upon the purchase of car wash services posts in a
conspicuous manner as close to the entrance to the facility as is
permitted by local ordinance a sign in letters not less than six
inches in height which effectively states that the purchaser must
purchase car wash services in order to purchase gasoline.
(c) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
(1) "Base period" refers to either the year of 1977, 1978, or
1979, whichever year is selected by the current operator of a full
service car wash facility subject to this section. Once the operator
of a full service car wash facility has selected one of these years
as a base period the operator or any subsequent purchaser of the
facility may utilize no other year as a base period for the purposes
of this section. If the full service car wash facility was not in
operation during 1977, 1978, or 1979, the base period shall be the
first full calendar year in which the facility is in operation.
(2) "Full service car wash facility" means a facility which,
during the base period, sold or offered to sell full service car wash
services and the service of waxing the exterior of a vehicle by hand
and at the same time and location sold or offered to sell gasoline.
(3) "Full service car wash services" means the cleaning of the
exterior of a vehicle, by means of mechanical devices or mechanical
devices and individuals, the drying of the exterior of a vehicle, and
the cleaning, including vacuuming, of the interior of a vehicle.
(4) "Practice" means a repeated or customary action as verified by
business records or other admissible evidence.
(d) In any civil action brought pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing
with Section 17200) of Part 2 of Division 7 of this code for a
violation of this section by a person who operates a full service car
wash facility or his or her employees or agents, the person who
operates the full service car wash facility shall have the burden of
proof with respect to establishing compliance with the provisions of
this section.
(e) Any person who elects to operate a full service car wash
facility pursuant to subdivision (b) shall maintain records to
substantiate that the person has complied with the provisions of
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (b) and shall permit the
district attorney of the county in which the full service car wash
facility is located and any authorized representative of a
governmental agency which is authorized under state law to enforce
the provisions of this section to inspect such records during normal
business hours.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 13590, the district
attorney of each county shall enforce the provisions of this section.
(g) The provisions of subdivisions (b) to (e), inclusive, shall
apply only during periods when the maximum retail price which may be
charged for gasoline sold by any person in this state is established
by the federal or state government, or any department, agency, board,
or other entity thereof.

13413. It is unlawful for any person or other legal entity to make
any deceptive, false, or misleading statement by any means whatever
regarding quality, quantity, performance, price, discount, or saving
used in the sale or selling of any commodity regulated pursuant to
this chapter.
The following misleading, unfair, or deceptive acts or practices
committed or permitted by any person offering for sale any product
which is regulated by this chapter are also a violation of this
section:
(a) Misrepresenting the brand, grade, quality, or price of a
petroleum product.
(b) Using false or deceptive representations or designations in
connection with the sale of petroleum products.
(c) Advertising petroleum products or services and not selling
them as advertised.
(d) Advertising petroleum products of a designated brand, grade,
trademark, or tradename not actually sold or available for sale.
(e) Making false, deceptive, or misleading statements concerning
conditions of sale or price reductions.
(f) Representing that the consumer will receive a rebate,
discount, or other economic benefit and then failing to give that
rebate, discount, or other economic benefit.
(g) Except as otherwise permitted, selling a grade of motor fuel
at more than one price and advertising only the lower price without
advertising each of the higher prices in equal size numerals on the
same advertising medium.
(h) Placing letters, words, figures, or numerals on any
advertising medium offering for sale any goods or merchandise, other
than motor fuel, if the advertising medium may be construed by any
reasonable person as advertising a price of motor fuel.
(i) Forging or falsifying any records or documents required by
this chapter or knowingly keeping, using, or displaying the false or
forged records or documents.