Why Do California’s Gas Pumps Look So Funny?

The illustrious state of California is known the world around for a litany of reasons, but among car enthusiasts California is derided for its strict emissions regulations, and the most triggering acronym of all, CARB. The California Air Resources Board is charged with protecting the public from the harmful effects of air pollution and developing programs and actions to fight climate change, which often infringes upon the activities of petrol heads, unsurprisingly. CARB is also for the reason for California’s strange-looking gas pumps.

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California is a unique state in that much of it was effectively developed around the automobile, but as the state’s population has ballooned, so has the number of polluting cars on the road. My parents grew up in the Los Angeles area, and they remember the days before California’s emissions regulations were put in place. Back then Los Angeles was so choked out by smog that visibility dropped to dangerously low levels, and now there are more cars on California roads than ever before.

In fact, there are more cars registered in California than any other state, at 31.3 million registered cars in 2021, and over 7 million registered vehicles in Los Angeles County alone. With that many cars in one region, oversight must be strict to keep the air quality safe, so even gas pumps face different regulations than in other regions. A CARB representative said,

“Non-California certified nozzles are less effective in capturing unburnt fuel vapors and therefore allow more of these strong smog-forming, and in some cases toxic emissions to escape. While in some areas of the country you may find that smog is not an issue, every motorist fueling a vehicle benefits from reduced exposure to toxic emissions, especially for things like benzene You can see from this list of standards that the nozzle bellows (technically the interface) is part of a highly complex system, so emissions reduction is not only about the nozzle and vehicle interface.”

The accordion-looking sheath that covers most of the actual metal nozzle at most California gas stations exists to trap gas vapor from escaping your car’s gas tank while refueling, and they’re called vapor recovery systems. The gas vapors these recovery systems mitigate are known contributors that create Los Angeles’ dreaded smog, as well as known carcinogens. The sleeve on the gas pump helps to create a seal to prevent these harmful vapors from entering the atmosphere during refueling. The below video illustrates what happens when the nozzle sleeve is not used properly:

Gas vapors escaping gas tanks

Innovations like California’s vapor recovery systems and stricter tailpipe emissions regulations have helped California’s biggest cities like Los Angeles enjoy more clear days, though there are still smoggy days where a visible layer of brown air encircles the city. As much as folks lament The Golden State’s environmental regulations against air pollution, as a native Californian I’m very grateful to have clearer skies and reasonable air quality.