The Rush to Discontinue the Use of Leaded Aviation Fuel Thwarted by the Court and the FAA

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-31-2025

First Paragraph

In the first six months of 2025, two significant legal decisions occurred which signal that opponents to the use of leaded aviation fuel must throttle back on their attempts to prematurely eliminate the use of leaded aviation fuel. The first significant decision was the Federal Aviation Administration’s March 24, 2025 ruling on a complaint against Santa Clara County, finding that the county took unlawful actions designed to prohibit leaded aviation fuel sales at its two public use airports.[1] The second significant event was the order by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Chatterjee, denying an injunction request to require the sale of unleaded aviation fuel in a number of airports in California.[2] Taken together, these two events signify administrative and judicial support for the continued use of leaded aviation fuel until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and industry come up with a commercially available “drop-in” unleaded fuel that can be utilized throughout the general aviation fleet. More importantly, these two decisions represent a strong signal to the promoters of unleaded aviation fuel who champion replacing 100LL aviation fuel without a viable drop-in replacement that is sanctioned by the federal government and industry stakeholders. Promoters of unleaded fuel must exercise restraint and refrain from overzealous attacks because a resolution is forthcoming.

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