The pro-cedure for dispensing gasoline on odd and even numbered days shall be as follows:

(1) At the retail level, gasoline may be dispensed on odd numbered days of the month only to vehicles with odd license plate numbers and on even numbered days only to vehicles with even license plate numbers, except as provided in subsection (2) . For purposes of this rule, personalized license plates shall be considered to be plates with an odd number and vehicles without permanent registration shall be considered to have plates with aN even number.

(2) The following vehicles may be supplied with gasoline on any day:

(a) vehicles with out-of-state license plates;

(b) vehicles driven by persons whose residences as shown on their driver's licenses are more than 100 miles distant from the place of gasoline purchase;

(c) public transportation vehicles, including, but not limited to, school buses, taxis, buses, and vehicles rented for less than 30 days;

(d) U. S. postal service vehicles;

(e) emergency vehicles, including:

(i) any publicly-owned ambulance, lifeguard of life-saving equipment, or any privately owned ambulance used to re-spond to emergency calls;

(ii) any publicly-owned vehicle operated by the following persons, agencies, or organizations;

(A) any fire department vehicles of any public agency or municipality;

(B) any police department, including those of the Montana state university system, sheriff's department (including search and rescue vehicles on official business) , or the Montana highway patrol; and

(C) peace officer personnel of the department of institutions;

(iii) any vehicle owned by the state or any bridge and highway district and equipped and used either for fighting fires, towing or servicing other vehicles, caring for injured persons, or repairing damaged lightening or electrical equipment or emergency maintenance;

(iv) any state-owned vehicle used in responding to emer-gency fire, rescue, or communications calls and operated by any public agency (including disaster and emergency services) or industrial fire department;

(v) any state-owned vehicle operated by a fish, wildlife and park warden;

(vi) other emergency repair and service vehicles whether public or private used for functions directly related to the protection of life, property, or public health;

(vii) vehicles operated in an emergency situation in the judgment of the gasoline retailer;

(viii) doctors' and nurses' vehicles when used for professional purposes;

(f) vehicles operated by handicapped persons who have no practical alternative to auto transportation;

(g) motorcycles, mopeds, and similar two-wheel vehicles;

(h) vehicles being used for commercial purposes according to the following identifying criteria:

(i) vehicles which by their design, size, or recognizable company identification are obviously being used for commercial purposes;

(ii) vehicles which are owned and operated as part of a company vehicle fleet as may be determined by company marking or the vehicle's registration; and

(iii) individually-owned vehicles used for commercial pur-poses, as evidenced by the presence of a specialized equipment, instruments, tools of the trade or profession, supplies or other material which cannot be readily carried by the vehicle operator on public transportation, or any other evidence that it is necessary to use the vehicle for commercial purposes; and

(i) vehicles operated by the United States department of justice.

(3) In months which have 31 days, gasoline may be dispen-sed to any vehicle on the 31st day of the month, or in a leap year, gasoline may be dispensed to any vehicle on the 29th day of February.

(4) Operators of vehicles exempt from this rule under subsection (2) are urged to purchase gasoline only on appropriate alternate days whenever possible.