Fuel cans and storing saw fuel: what OSHA, the CPSC, EPA, UK law and makers say

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It sets out the wording of the rules and does not say which can to use or how to store fuel. Mix ratios, ethanol and fuelling distances are on the page about chainsaw fuel mix and ethanol, and the flammable liquid lines of OSHA, SafeWork NSW and WorkSafe NZ are in the guide to fire and fuel hazards.

United States: OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.106

OSHA's flammable liquids standard defines the terms that fuel can rules use.

Safety can, paragraph (a)(29): an approved container of not more than 5 gallons capacity, with a spring-closing lid and spout cover, designed to relieve internal pressure safely when exposed to fire.
Portable tank, paragraph (a)(25): a closed container with a liquid capacity over 60 U.S. gallons that is not intended for fixed installation.
Approved, paragraph (a)(35): approved or listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory.

Its container storage paragraph, (d), says in (d)(2)(i) that only approved containers and portable tanks shall be used. The scope in (d)(1)(ii)(b) leaves out category 1, 2 or 3 flammable liquids in the fuel tanks of a motor vehicle, aircraft, boat, or portable or stationary engine, so the paragraph is about fuel in containers, not the saw's own tank.

United States: CPSC, 16 CFR Part 1460

The Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act Regulation makes the closure requirements for portable gasoline containers a consumer product safety rule. Section 1460.2 defines a portable fuel container as any portable gasoline container intended for use by consumers, and any receptacle for gasoline, kerosene or diesel fuel, including its spout, cap and other closure parts, produced or distributed for sale to or use by consumers. Section 1460.3 says each portable gasoline container manufactured on or after December 22, 2022 for sale in the United States conforms to sections 2 through 7 of ASTM F2517-22e1, the specification for determining child resistance of portable fuel containers for consumer use. The rule binds what is made and sold. It contains no storage instruction.

United States: EPA, 40 CFR Part 59 Subpart F

Subpart F controls evaporative emissions from portable fuel containers. Section 59.600 applies it to containers manufactured on or after January 1, 2009, and section 59.601 puts its requirements on manufacturers and importers. Section 59.611 sets the limit that hydrocarbon emissions from a container may not exceed 0.3 grams per gallon per day, and says the container must be free of leaks whether upright, partially inverted or completely inverted, and designed to minimize spillage during refueling. The useful life is five years from the date of sale, and the emission warranty runs a minimum of one year. Section 59.680 defines a portable fuel container as a reusable container of any color designed and marketed for use by consumers for receiving, transporting, storing and dispensing gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene.

Great Britain: Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014

The legislation.gov.uk text of Schedule 2 is headed petrol storage in domestic or other relevant premises. The regulations define those premises as domestic premises, or non-domestic premises that are not a workplace. Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 appear below in the as-made version, and the revised text marks them as applying in England, Wales and Scotland.

Provision	What it says
Schedule 2, paragraph 1	No more than a total of 30 litres in suitable portable containers or in a single demountable fuel tank. The storage place is within, above, below, attached to or within the curtilage of a building, and where it is within a building it is fire-separated from the rest of the building and from any exit route.
Schedule 2, paragraphs 2 and 4	Keeping more than that, up to 275 litres in the whole of the premises, is covered when the common storage requirements are met and written notice is given to the petroleum enforcement authority before storing and then annually in January.
Schedule 2, paragraph 3	Common storage requirements: not living accommodation, no dispensing at the storage place, a direct exit and ventilation to the open air when not in the open, and precautions against ignition sources.
Schedule 2, paragraph 6	A suitable portable container is in a good state of repair, secure from leaking, not degraded by chemicals or light, not unsteady on a level surface, and meets Schedule 3 or one of two older descriptions.
Schedule 3, paragraph 1	A portable petrol storage container has a nominal capacity no greater than 10 litres if plastic and 20 litres if metal, and is marked with the words PETROL and HIGHLY FLAMMABLE, a hazard warning sign, the nominal capacity, and the manufacturer's name with the month and date of manufacture.
Regulation 13(2)	No more than 500 millilitres in a suitable container that is securely stopped is also compliant, and is not counted toward the Schedule 2 total.

What one saw maker's UK pages say about mixed fuel

One saw maker's UK page on fuel mix, dated June 26, 2025, says storage periods vary with the mix and that a mix made by the user may no longer be fit for use after 30 days of storage. It says that in two-stroke mix containing ethanol the oil and petrol are liable to separate relatively quickly, and that long storage can form a resinous gum. It describes the maker's ready-mixed fuel as having a long shelf life, and its product teaser says it can be stored for up to 5 years. These are statements by the maker about its own products and not rules.

What these sources leave out

The sources above do not cover container rules in Canada or Australia. The Great Britain schedules do not apply to workplaces, and none of the sources above says which rules cover a tree firm's yard.