On Friday, May 14, 1999, Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Education and Safety Board bill. This was big news for the industry! The LPG Education and Safety Board is a partnership between industry and government. The idea for the Board was conceived by members of the New Jersey Propane Gas Association in response to the many regulatory bodies with oversight of the industry. In the mid-nineties, the Department of Labor indicated that they were considering assessing fees and creating new weights and measures laws with fees. There were some concerns as to the uniformity of these regulations and how they might be applied as well as the fact that this meant more oversight and higher costs. At that time, representatives of the industry requested an advisory board to allow for some input into regulations before they were implemented. The LPG Education and Safety Board is the result.

The Board was established with powers to adopt rules affecting the storage, handling and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas. The Board is also empowered to establish and enforce licensing standards for liquefied petroleum gas distributors and to develop programs to promote the safe use of liquefied petroleum gas.

The New Jersey Propane Gas Association has been appreciative of the efforts of state lawmakers and the Governor in their support of this Board. NJPGA members who were appointed by the Governor to represent the propane industry include: Thomas Leahy, Executive Vice President of MGS Corporation; Gerard C. Stocker, President, Thomas Associates; Larry Horowitz, Vice President, H&H Gas and Appliance Corporation; Joseph M. Cummings, Jr., formerly with Star Gas Propane, LP; and William P. Curcio, Executive Vice President, Eastern Propane. Mr. Curcio currently serves as the chairman of the LPG Education and Safety Board.

Thomas Leahy has been Executive Vice President of MGS Corporation for 25 years. He is a member of the Marketing Development Committee of the National Propane Gas Association and also serves on the NJPGA Board of Directors and Public Affairs Committee.

Gerard C. Stocker is the president of Thomas Associates, an engineering design firm specializing in the design of LP-Gas systems. Mr.Stocker has had engineering responsibility at the firm for over 30 years. He is actively licensed as a professional engineer in 13 states; is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the National Fire Protection Association. He also serves on the NJPGA Board of Directors and is a Past President of NJ Propane Gas Association..

Larry Horowitz is Vice President of H&H Gas and Appliance Corporation. He has over 30 years of experience in the propane gas industry. He is a member of the National Propane Gas Association Research and Development Committee and Technology and Standards Committee. He is also a Past President of NJPGA and current President of the New Jersey Propane Education and Research Foundation.

Joseph M. Cummings, Jr., now retired, previously served as Corporate Fleet Director for Star Gas Propane, LP. He has been active on the National Propane Gas Association Safety Committee where he drafted and pursued many important safety bulletins. He also continues to serve on the NJPGA Board of Directors and received the 1998 Howard Card Safety Award.

William P. Curcio, chairman of the Board, is Executive Vice President of the Eastern Propane Corporation. Along with NJPGA, he has held leadership roles in the United Way of Sussex County, the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce and the Community Builders Association. He was the recipient of the Grohmann Award for Outstanding Community Service. He is also Past President of NJPGA, chaired the Public Affairs Committee for many years and continues to serve on the Board of Directors.

Four of these representatives served as President of the Association and all have over 20 years experience in the propane industry. Because the Board is empowered to adopt rules setting standards for the design, construction, location, installation and operation of equipment for the propane industry in New Jersey, the combined experience of over 100 years will be of considerable value to the Board. In addition to the propane industry's representatives, the Board has three fire safety professionals and representatives from the environmental community, consumer community, public utilities, along with a member from the public as selected by the Governor.