FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JONATHAN ALVAREZ; EMANUEL
JIMINEZ; SHAUN MCCRACKEN;
HOUSAM MOUMNE; MOHAMMAD
MOUMNE; KENT COCHRAN, on
behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
CHEVRON CORPORATION; CHEVRON No. 09-56698
USA, INC.; EXXON MOBIL D.C. No.
CORPORATION; CONOCOPHILLIPS 2:09-cv-03343-
COMPANY; BP CORPORATION NORTH GHK-CW
AMERICA, INC.; BP PRODUCTS
OPINION
NORTH AMERICA, INC.; BP WEST
COAST PRODUCTS, LLC; BP NORTH
AMERICAN PETROLEUM, INC.; SHELL
OIL COMPANY; SHELL OIL PRODUCTS
COMPANY; EQUILON ENTERPRISES,
LLC; VALERO ENERGY
CORPORATION; VALERO CALIFORNIA
RETAIL COMPANY,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
George H. King, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted
February 8, 2011—Pasadena, California
Filed September 1, 2011
16701
16702 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
Before: Stephen Reinhardt, Johnnie B. Rawlinson, and
N. Randy Smith, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by Judge Rawlinson
16704 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
COUNSEL
Robert K. Friedl and Behram V. Parekh (argued), Kirtland &
Packard LLP, El Segundo, California, for the plaintiffs-
appellants.
Darius C. Ogloza (argued), Latham & Watkins LLP, San
Francisco, California, for Chevron USA, Inc.; Julian Brew,
Kaye Scholer LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Exxon-
Mobile Corp.; Corey C. Watson, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Los
Angeles, California, for BP Products North America Inc., BP
North American Petroleum, and BP West Coast Products,
LLC; Andrew M. Edison, Edison McDowell & Hetherington
LLP, Houston, Texas, for Valero California Retail Co. and
Valero Energy Corp.; Robin A. Wofford and Hubert Kim,
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16705
Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP, San Diego, California, for Shell
Oil Co., Shell Oil Products Co., and Equilon Enterprises,
LLC; Joseph W. Bell, Zelle Hoffmann Voebel & Mason LLP,
San Franciso, California, for Conocophillips Co.
OPINION
RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge:
Appellants Jonathan Alvarez, Emanuel Jiminez, Shaun
McCracken, Housam Moumne, Mohammad Moumne, and
Kent Cochran (collectively Plaintiffs), appeal the district
court’s dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(6) of their putative consumer class action against Chev-
ron USA, Inc., Exxon-Mobile Corp., Conocophillips Co., BP
Products North America Inc., BP West Coast Products, LLC,
Equilon Enterprises, LLC, Shell Oil Co., and Valero Califor-
nia Retail Co. (collectively Defendants). Plaintiffs also appeal
the district court’s denial of leave to amend their second
amended complaint.
Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint alleged that the
design of Defendants’ retail gasoline dispensers was funda-
mentally flawed due to a residual fuel occurence: when Plain-
tiffs purchased premium grade fuel, they received between
two and three-tenths of a gallon of residual fuel from the pre-
vious transaction, and therefore were overcharged when the
previous purchaser had selected mid-range or regular grade
fuel. Plaintiffs sought to have Defendants remedy this situa-
tion by developing a more accurate dispenser or pricing tech-
nology, or displaying disclosures at the point of purchase.
These allegations fueled Plaintiffs’ common law and statutory
consumer protection claims.1
1
Like the district court, we conclude that Plaintiffs did not properly
present for decision any claims under Texas law, and thus we apply only
California law.
16706 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and
affirm the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ second
amended complaint without leave to amend because the dis-
trict court committed no legal error.
I. BACKGROUND
A. Plaintiffs’ Allegations2
Defendants sell motor fuel to retail customers at gas sta-
tions throughout the United States. Plaintiffs are six individ-
ual retail purchasers of “motor fuel with an advertised octane
rating of 91 or higher, which was advertised, marketed, dis-
tributed, and/or sold, by Defendants . . .”
Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants use single-nozzle gaso-
line dispensers at their gas stations that are less expensive to
install and maintain than the previous multi-nozzle variety.
Plaintiffs took issue with these single-nozzle dispensers
because these nozzles create the residual fuel problem
described above.
Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants could and should remedy
the residual fuel problem, and proposed three remedies. First,
Plaintiffs asserted that “Defendants could implement techno-
logical devices that would enable a multi-grade single nozzle
pump to deliver 100% of the grade of gasoline contracted for,
yet such technology has not been implemented.” Plaintiffs
conceded, however, that “technology to completely eliminate
the [residual fuel problem] may turn out not to be cost-
effective or feasible.” In the alternative, Plaintiffs alleged that
Defendants could install technology to charge customers at a
lower price for any lower-grade residual fuel pumped for a
prior transaction. Third, as a remedy of last resort, Plaintiffs
sought the addition of corrective disclosures to the gas
2
These allegations are taken from Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Com-
plaint.
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16707
pumps’ electronic display screens that would alert customers
to the residual fuel situation. Plaintiffs submitted no further
factual allegations regarding these suggested remedies.
B. California’s Regulation of Gasoline Dispensing
Devices
1. Inspection and Certification of Gasoline Dispenser
Designs
The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Divi-
sion of Measurement Standards (DMS) regulates retail gaso-
line dispensing. See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 12100, 13590,
12500(a)-(b). Any design of commercial weighing and mea-
suring devices must be submitted to DMS for certification
that the submitted design meets the requirements of Califor-
nia’s regulatory regime. See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code
§ 12500.5. If a device is inspected and deemed lawful, or
“correct,” it is marked with a seal to be displayed to custom-
ers, identifying it as such. See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code
§§ 12505, 12500(c) (defining “correct” as meeting all require-
ments of California law). It is illegal to sell or use commer-
cially any weighing or measuring device “of a type or design
which has not first been so approved . . .” Cal. Bus. & Prof.
Code § 12500.5.
2. Handbook 44 Standards: Restrictions on Draining and
Price-Changing
California’s technical requirements for commercial weigh-
ing and measuring “adopt, by reference, the latest standards
as recommended by the National Conference on Weights and
Measures [NCWM] and published in the National Institute of
Standards and Technology [NIST] Handbook 44 ‘Specifica-
tions and Tolerances, and other Technical Requirements for
Weighing and Measuring Devices [Handbook 44][.]’ ” Cal.
Bus. & Prof. Code § 12107; see Cal. Code Regs. tit. 4, § 4000.3
3
Handbook 44 has been published annually since 1949, “following the
Annual Meeting of the [NCWM]. . . . NIST has a statutory responsibility
16708 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
To earn the mandatory seal of approval from DMS, weighing
and measuring devices sold or used commercially in Califor-
nia must conform to Handbook 44. See Cal. Code Regs. tit.
4, § 4000.
Handbook 44 standards require two pertinent dispenser
design features. First, discharging or draining of gasoline
from the meter or hose is prohibited. Second, if dispensers
offer multiple grades of gasoline at different prices per grade,
“the selection of the unit price shall be made prior to delivery
using controls on the device or other customer-activated con-
trols. A system shall not permit a change to the unit price dur-
ing delivery of [the] product.” NIST Handbook 44 S.1.6.5.4.
3. California Air Resources Board Requirements of
Single-Nozzle, Single-Hose Dispensers
In addition to complying with the requirements of the
DMS, gasoline service stations must conform to the require-
ments of the California Environmental Protection Agency Air
Resources Board (ARB). The ARB’s “Certification Procedure
for Vapor Recovery Systems at Gasoline Dispensing Facili-
ties . . . [ARB CP-201][,]” is incorporated by reference into
the California Administrative Code. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 17,
§ 94011. To earn this certification, all facilities installed since
2003 must use single-nozzle, single-hose gasoline dispensers.
See ARB CP-201, § 4.11 (Feb. 9, 2005).4
for ‘cooperation with the states in securing uniformity of weights and
measures laws and methods of inspection’ . . .” including the annual publi-
cation of the NCWM’s recommendations in Handbook 44. The NCWM
considered the residual fuel problem posed by single-nozzle, multi-grade
gasoline dispensers in its 1989 report, published by NIST, and neverthe-
less recommended them over alternative systems.
4
The most recently amended version of ARB CP-201 is available
through the website of the California Environmental Protection Agency
Air Resources Board. See http://www.arb.ca.gov/testmeth/vol2/cp201_
feb2005.pdf (last visited Feb. 17, 2011).
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16709
C. Procedural History
Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint in this diversity
action presented six claims under California law: (1) breach
of contract; (2) breach of the duties of good faith and fair
dealing; (3) breach of express and implied warranties; (4) a
claim predicated on California’s Consumer Legal Remedies
Act (CLRA), California Civil Code § 1770 et seq.; (5) a claim
predicated on California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL),
California Business and Professions Code § 17200 et seq.;
and (6) a claim predicated on California’s False Advertising
Law (FAL), California Business and Professions Code
§ 17500 et seq. Defendants, in turn, filed a joint motion to dis-
miss for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 12(b)(6).
Defendants presented four grounds for dismissal. Defen-
dants first argued that California’s regulatory scheme pre-
cluded any liability for the residual fuel problem because it
mandates the dispenser and pricing features to which Plaintiff
objected. Second, Defendants contended that Plaintiffs’ com-
mon law claims should be dismissed because they failed to
comply with statutory notice requirements, and because Plain-
tiffs’ claim alleging breach of the duties of good faith and fair
dealing was duplicative of their breach of contract claim.
Third, Defendants argued that any claim or relief that would
mandate additional or different disclosures for octane labels
was preempted by the federal Petroleum Marketing Practices
Act (PMPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 2821-2824, and the Federal Trade
Commission’s (FTC’s) Posting Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 306.1 et
seq. Finally, Defendants argued that the court should abstain
from deciding the case under California’s equitable abstention
doctrine, because the relief sought “would embroil the Court
in economic and policy determinations and monitoring activi-
ties already governed by a comprehensive [state] regulatory
scheme.”5
5
The district court found adequate grounds for dismissing each of Plain-
tiffs’ claims without addressing Defendants’ equitable abstention argu-
16710 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
The district court granted Defendants’ motion without
argument, dismissing Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint
in its entirety without leave to amend. Judgment was entered,
and Plaintiffs timely appealed.
II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
We review de novo the district court’s dismissal of a com-
plaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
See Telesaurus VPC, LLC v. Power, 623 F.3d 998, 1003 (9th
Cir. 2010).
[W]e begin by identifying pleadings that, because
they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled
to the assumption of truth. We disregard threadbare
recitals of the elements of a cause of action, sup-
ported by mere conclusory statements. After elimi-
nating such unsupported legal conclusions, we
identify well-pleaded factual allegations, which we
assume to be true, and then determine whether they
plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief. To sur-
vive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain
sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a
claim to relief that is plausible on its face; that is,
plaintiff must plead factual content that allows the
court to draw the reasonable inference that the defen-
dant is liable for the misconduct alleged.
Id. (citations, alterations and internal quotation marks omit-
ted); see Ashcroft v. Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937,
1949-50 (2009).
ment. Defendants presented the same four central grounds for affirming
the district court’s dismissal in their brief to this court. Like the district
court, we do not find it necessary to reach Defendants’ equitable absten-
tion argument.
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16711
We review the district court’s denial of leave to amend a
complaint for abuse of discretion. See Telesaurus VPC, LLC,
623 F.3d at 1003.
III. DISCUSSION
A. Failure to State a Claim under Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)
Plaintiffs’ claims rest on one central allegation, as stated
succinctly by the district court:
Defendants fail to deliver 100 percent of the fuel at
the octane rating advertised when Plaintiffs purchase
fuel at a higher octane rating than the previous cus-
tomer at a single-nozzle pump. Plaintiffs argue that
they are paying for approximately 0.2-0.3 gallons of
‘residual fuel,’ which is not drained or diverted, at
the higher per gallon price, and hence, are allegedly
overcharged.
Defendants similarly rely on one central ground to support
dismissal of the complaint: the residual fuel situation stems
from the mandated design of gasoline dispensers that are cer-
tified as lawful by California regulators. Plaintiffs’ claims,
argue Defendants, seek relief that cannot be granted because
Defendants may not alter their dispenser designs, price com-
putation mechanisms, or octane disclosures without running
afoul of various legal requirements in this heavily regulated
arena.
We agree with the district court that Plaintiffs’ well-
pleaded factual allegations, accepted as true, do not give rise
to a reasonable inference that Defendants have committed any
misconduct for which we may grant relief. Plaintiffs’ com-
mon law claims were properly dismissed for failure to provide
reasonable notice. Plaintiffs’ statutory claims under the CLRA
and UCL fail because Defendants’ conduct is clearly permit-
16712 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
ted by California law, and Defendants therefore are entitled to
safe harbor from liability under these broad consumer protec-
tion statutes. Plaintiffs’ claim under the FAL fails because it
is expressly preempted by the PMPA and the FTC’s Posting
Rule. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ complaint “fail[ed] to state a
claim upon which relief can be granted[.]” Fed. R. Civ. Proc.
12(b)(6).
1. Plaintiffs Failed to Provide Reasonable Notice
Regarding the Common Law Claims
Plaintiffs’ claims for breach of contract and breach of war-
ranty allege, generally, that Defendants have breached their
sales contract obligations by failing to deliver the specific,
contracted-for number of gallons at the posted fuel grade.6
The district court properly dismissed these common law
claims because Plaintiffs failed to provide Defendants with
reasonable notice. See Cal. Com. Code § 2607(3)(A) (“The
buyer must, within a reasonable time after he or she discovers
or should have discovered any breach, notify the seller of
breach or be barred from any remedy[.]”).
[1] To avoid dismissal of a breach of contract or breach of
warranty claim in California, “[a] buyer must plead that notice
of the alleged breach was provided to the seller within a rea-
sonable time after discovery of the breach.” Stearns v. Select
Comfort Retail Corp., 763 F. Supp. 2d 1128, 1142 (N.D. Cal.
2010) (citations omitted); see also id. at 1142-43 (construing
reasonable notice in California as “pre-suit notice”). The pur-
pose of giving notice of breach is to allow the breaching party
6
We do not address Plaintiffs’ claim for breach of the duties of good
faith and fair dealing fails because it is duplicative of Plaintiffs’ breach of
contract claim. See Careau & Co. v. Sec. Pac. Bus. Credit, Inc., 222 Cal.
App. 3d 1371, 1395 (1990) (“If the allegations do not go beyond the state-
ment of a mere contract breach and, relying on the same alleged acts, sim-
ply seek the same . . . relief already claimed in a companion contract cause
of action, they may be disregarded as superfluous as no additional claim
is actually stated.”).
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16713
to cure the breach and thereby avoid the necessity of litigating
the matter in court. See Cardinal Health 301, Inc. v. Tyco
Elecs. Corp., 169 Cal. App. 4th 116, 135 (2008) (Cardinal
Health). This purpose would be completely undermined if it
could be satisfied with the giving of post-suit notice. For that
reason, we agree with the district court in Stearns that the
notice requirement means pre-suit notice. In this case, Plain-
tiffs alleged only that they “gave notice to Defendants to cor-
rect this breach upon learning of this breach by letter to
Defendants and by the filing of the instant action.” This alle-
gation fails to satisfy California’s pre-suit notice requirement
in light of the undisputed evidence that Plaintiffs sent their
notice letter simultaneously with the complaint.
In support of their argument that their letter provided rea-
sonable notice, Plaintiffs rely on Hampton v. Gebhardt’s Chili
Powder Co., 294 F.2d 172, 173-74 (9th Cir. 1961). In Hamp-
ton, we concluded that notice need not precede the filing of
the original complaint to be reasonable under California’s
statutory requirement, so long as it otherwise is given within
a reasonable time. See id. Subsequent to that 1961 decision,
however, California courts7 have disagreed with our construc-
tion of California Commercial Code section 2607(3)(A). See
Cardinal Health, 169 Cal. App. 4th at 137. The California
Court of Appeal explained that a pre-suit notice requirement
best satisfies the statutory objectives of § 2607(3)(A) by
allowing sellers “to repair or remedy the problem” by provid-
ing the opportunity to negotiate a settlement, and by affording
7
“We are bound by pronouncements of the California Supreme Court on
applicable state law, but in the absence of such pronouncements, we fol-
low decisions of the California Court of Appeal unless there is convincing
evidence that the California Supreme Court would hold otherwise.” Car-
valho v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, 629 F.3d 876, 889 (9th Cir. 2010), as
amended (citation omitted). Here we are bound by the decision of the Cal-
ifornia Court of Appeal because there is no California Supreme Court
decision on point, and no indication that the California Supreme Court
would disagree with the construction of the statutory notice requirement
set forth in Cardinal Health.
16714 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
time to prepare for litigation by preserving relevant evidence.
Id.
[2] “Our duty as a federal court in this case is to ascertain
and apply the existing California law.” Munson v. Del Taco,
Inc., 522 F.3d 997, 1002 (9th Cir. 2008) (citation and internal
quotation marks omitted). “As our previous interpretation of
California law, [Hampton] is only binding in the absence of
any subsequent indication from the California courts that our
interpretation was incorrect. [Cardinal Health] indicates that
our interpretation was incorrect.” Id. (citation and internal
quotation marks omitted). We therefore must conclude that
Plaintiffs failed to plead that they provided reasonable notice
under § 2607(3)(A) because their notice letter was sent to
Defendants simultaneously with service of the complaint. See
Cardinal Health, 169 Cal. App. 4th at 137 (“The first time
Cardinal provided any notice to T & B was when Cardinal
served its lawsuit on T & B. This did not comply with the
statutory requirement.”).
2. Safe Harbor from Liability Pursuant to
California’s Unfair Competition Law and
Consumer Legal Remedies Act
Plaintiffs’ statutory claims under the UCL and CLRA
allege, generally, that Defendants’ use of devices resulting in
retention of residual fuel constitutes an unlawful and/or
deceptive business practice. See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code
§ 17200; see also Cal. Civ. Code § 1770(a). Defendants
counter that these statutory claims fail because Defendants are
entitled to safe harbor from liability insofar as their chal-
lenged business practices are clearly permitted—and indeed
are certified to be lawful—under California’s regulatory
regime.
[3] The UCL broadly prohibits “any unlawful, unfair or
fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive,
untrue or misleading advertising . . .” Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16715
§ 17200. Plaintiffs allege that the residual fuel situation
amounts to an unlawful business practice,8 and seek injunctive
relief,9 including requiring Defendants to replace their gaso-
line dispensing systems to eliminate residual fuel, to change
their billing and pricing systems so that customers are charged
accurately for the grade and quantity of gasoline they pump,
or to add additional disclosures on all gasoline dispensers
notifying customers of the existing residual fuel in the hose.
[4] Plaintiffs’ UCL claim was properly dismissed by the
district court pursuant to California’s safe-harbor doctrine
because “courts may not use the unfair competition law to
condemn actions the Legislature permits.” Cel-Tech, 973 P.2d
at 542.
Although the unfair competition law’s scope is
sweeping, it is not unlimited. Courts may not simply
impose their own notions of the day as to what is fair
or unfair. Specific legislation may limit the judicia-
ry’s power to declare conduct unfair. If the Legisla-
ture has permitted certain conduct or considered a
situation and concluded no action should lie, courts
may not override that determination. When specific
legislation provides a “safe harbor,” plaintiffs may
not use the general unfair competition law to assault
that harbor.
8
“By proscribing any unlawful business practice, [the UCL] borrows
violations of other laws and treats them as unlawful practices that the
unfair competition law makes independently actionable.” Cel-Tech
Commc’ns, Inc. v. Los Angeles Cellular Tel. Co., 973 P.2d 527, 539-40
(Cal. 1999) (Cel-Tech) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
Moreover, even absent an independently actionable legal violation, “[t]he
statutory language [of the UCL] . . . makes clear that a practice may be
deemed unfair even if not specifically proscribed by some other law.” Id.
at 540.
9
Under the UCL, “[p]revailing plaintiffs are generally limited to injunc-
tive relief and restitution.” Cel-Tech, 973 P.2d at 539 (citations omitted).
16716 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
Id. at 541 (emphasis added). The allegedly unfair business
practice in this case is the residual fuel resulting from a DMS-
certified dispenser design. California law unequivocally per-
mits Defendants’ conduct, therefore affording safe harbor
from UCL liability.
[5] The CLRA similarly proscribes various “unfair meth-
ods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices
undertaken by any person in a transaction intended to result
or which results in the sale or lease of goods or services to
any consumer . . .” Cal. Civ. Code § 1770(a). Plaintiffs
asserted that Defendants violated the CLRA by causing, and
failing to disclose, the residual fuel situation. However, we
agree with the district court that “[t]he California regulatory
framework creates specific requirements [for retail gasoline
dispensing] that may not be trumped by the general prohibi-
tions of the CLRA[,]” and that Defendants therefore were
entitled to safe harbor from Plaintiffs’ CLRA claims. See
Bourgi v. W. Covina Motors, Inc., 166 Cal. App. 4th 1649,
1658-60 (2008) (applying safe harbor provisions of Vehicle
Code to claims brought under the CLRA).
3. The Claim Predicated on California’s False
Advertising Law is Expressly Preempted by the
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act and the
Federal Trade Commission’s Posting Rule
The FAL provides in pertinent part:
It is unlawful for any . . . corporation . . . to make
or disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated
before the public in this state, . . . in any newspaper
or other publication, or any advertising device, or by
public outcry or proclamation, or in any other man-
ner or means whatever, including over the Internet,
any statement, . . . which is untrue or misleading,
and which is known, or which by the exercise of rea-
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16717
sonable care should be known, to be untrue or mis-
leading . . .
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500. Plaintiffs alleged that Defen-
dants violated the FAL when they “advertised motor fuel for
sale as having a minimum octane rating when, in reality, the
initial 0.2-0.3 gallons of such motor fuel sold had a lower
octane rating due to the residual fuel [situation] . . .” The dis-
trict court concluded that Plaintiffs’ FAL claim was expressly
preempted by federal law governing octane disclosures. We
agree.
[6] The PMPA mandates that gasoline retailers “display in
a clear and conspicuous manner, at the point of sale to ulti-
mate purchasers of automotive fuel, the automotive fuel rating
of such automotive fuel . . .” 15 U.S.C. § 2822(c). The PMPA
instructs the FTC to promulgate rules prescribing “a uniform
method of displaying the automotive fuel rating of automotive
fuel at the point of sale to ultimate purchasers.” 15 U.S.C.
§ 2823(c)(1)(B).
[7] In response, the FTC promulgated the Posting Rule that
applies to “ . . . refiner[s], importer[s], producer[s], distribu-
tor[s], [and] retailer[s] of automotive fuel[,]” 16 C.F.R.
§ 306.2, and contains detailed instructions for the “posting of
automotive fuel ratings in or affecting commerce . . .” 16
C.F.R. § 306.1. The Posting Rule comprehensively regulates
all labeling, disclosure, and rating requirements to be dis-
played at the point of sale to retail gasoline customers. See 16
C.F.R. § 306.10. The Posting Rule includes sample octane
labels, and delineates their specific layout, type size and set-
ting, colors, and content. See 16 C.F.R. § 306.12. The Posting
Rule expressly limits label content: “No marks or information
other than that called for by this rule may appear on the
labels.” 16 C.F.R. § 306.12(d).
[8] The PMPA contains a broad preemption against state
and local laws and regulations addressing any acts or omis-
16718 ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP.
sions covered by the PMPA, “unless such provision of such
law or regulation is the same as the applicable provision of
this subchapter.” 15 U.S.C. § 2824(a) (emphasis added). The
Posting Rule incorporates this preemption provision. See 16
C.F.R. § 306.4(a).
[9] Among other remedies, Plaintiffs seek to compel
Defendants to add a corrective disclosure at the point of sale
alerting retail gasoline customers to the residual fuel situation.
The district court concluded that the additional corrective dis-
closure sought by Plaintiffs was not “the same as” the specific
labeling requirements prescribed in the PMPA and the Posting
Rule.10 15 U.S.C. § 2824(a); 16 C.F.R. § 306.4(a). Plaintiffs
argue that their proposed notice, alerting customers to the
residual fuel situation, does not conflict with federal law
because the notification would not be displayed on the label
itself and would not mention octane ratings. This argument is
not persuasive. Plaintiffs’ intended disclosure remedy is
designed to warn customers at the point of sale that the grade
of fuel they purchase may or may not actually be delivered,
regardless of its posted fuel grade. This notice would have the
effect of challenging the accuracy and undermining the uni-
formity of federal octane labeling regulations promulgated by
the FTC. We agree with the district court that Plaintiffs’ FAL
claim is expressly preempted.11
10
Another district court recently reached a contrary conclusion in a simi-
lar action brought under the UCL and FAL, factually distinguishing the
claim in that case from the instant matter. See VP Racing Fuels, Inc. v.
Gen. Petroleum Corp., 673 F. Supp. 2d 1073, 1081-83 (E.D. Cal. 2009)
(“The Alvarez court found that plaintiff’s false advertising claim was pre-
empted because we cannot require Defendants to disclose more informa-
tion than is expressly required by these provisions. Here, however,
Plaintiff is not requesting that Defendant disclose more information than
required, only that Defendant’s disclosure be accurate and truthful.”). Id.
at 1083 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). But see Jurman
v. Sun Co., Inc. (R. & M.), 671 N.Y.S.2d 218 (N.Y. App. Div. 1998) (find-
ing claims preempted by the PMPA).
11
To the extent Plaintiffs’ other statutory claims seek relief that would
require a corrective disclosure at the point of sale, we conclude that they
are also preempted by federal law.
ALVAREZ v. CHEVRON CORP. 16719
B. Denial of Leave to Amend
[10] “A district court may deny a plaintiff leave to amend
if it determines that allegation of other facts consistent with
the challenged pleading could not possibly cure the deficiency
. . .” Telesaurus VPC, LLC, 623 F.3d at 1003 (citations and
internal quotation marks omitted). Here, even if Plaintiffs
were permitted to add an allegation that other technology
exists that would enable Defendants to comply with their
alleged common law and statutory obligations to customers
while also complying with California regulatory mandates,
this additional allegation would not alter the fundamental flaw
in the theory of Plaintiffs’ lawsuit. That flaw is that Defen-
dants’ current conduct—using dispenser designs that cause
the residual fuel problem—is lawful in California. There may
well be a better dispenser design, and California regulators
may consider implementing that design in the future to rem-
edy the residual fuel situation. However, under the current
statutes and regulations, Defendants’ conduct does not sup-
port a claim for which we may grant relief. Accordingly, fur-
ther amendment would be futile, and the district court did not
abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend.
AFFIRMED.