New 'Gas Can Freedom Act' Eliminates Child Safety Caps and Fire Prevention Rules on Fuel Containers

The newly introduced Gas Can Freedom Act of 2025 is short, sharp, and entirely focused on rolling back federal safety regulations for portable fuel containers. Specifically, this bill completely repeals two existing laws: the Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2020 and the Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act. If passed, the bill immediately voids all related safety rules the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) currently enforces, and it explicitly bans the CPSC from ever creating new rules requiring two specific safety features: flame mitigation devices and child-resistant caps (SEC. 2).

The Fine Print: What Just Got Un-Regulated?

Think about the red plastic gas cans you use for your lawnmower or generator. For the past few years, federal rules have required these containers to have features designed to prevent accidents. The first feature is the flame mitigation device, often a small screen or barrier inside the spout meant to stop a flame from flashing back into the can and causing an explosion or massive flare-up. The second, and perhaps more obvious, feature is the child-resistant cap designed to keep curious kids from accidentally ingesting gasoline or pouring it out (SEC. 2). This bill eliminates the requirement for both. For manufacturers, this means they no longer have to pay for these safety features, potentially lowering the cost of production and the price tag at the hardware store.

Real-World Impact: Trading Safety for Savings

For most people, the immediate change will be seeing cheaper gas cans on the shelves that lack these safety measures. But the real impact is the increased risk. If you’re a parent, the removal of the child-resistant cap is a major concern. Gasoline ingestion is a serious, often fatal, hazard for toddlers. The Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act was put in place to address this specific danger, and this bill eliminates that protection entirely. Similarly, the flame mitigation devices were added specifically to prevent flash fires—a significant risk when refueling hot equipment or if a can is near an ignition source. Removing this requirement means consumers are now buying a product with a known, preventable safety hazard.

The Regulatory Chill: CPSC’s Hands Are Tied

Beyond just repealing the current rules, the bill includes a powerful prohibition: the CPSC is now explicitly forbidden from issuing any future regulation regarding flame mitigation or child-resistant features on these containers, regardless of future accident data or emerging risks (SEC. 2). This is a major limitation on the agency responsible for consumer safety. It means that even if emergency room visits related to gas can burns or poisoning spike dramatically in the coming years, the federal government has proactively tied its own hands and cannot step in to mandate these basic protections again. This is a rare move in legislation, effectively creating a permanent exemption from safety oversight for this specific product category.