Stable Oil Supply (SOS) Home Heating Act

Summary: Directs the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress regarding the certification status of submitted voluntary plans.
Provides a defense to an antitrust action brought against such voluntary plans.
Requires the Secretary, if a certified plan is not implemented for each such importer, refiner, and wholesaler, to establish a private home heating oil reserve for the Northeast, according to specified requirements.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stable Oil Supply (SOS) Home Heating 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) more than 35 percent of families in the northeastern 
        United States depend on oil to heat their homes each winter, 
        and most of those families have no practical alternative to 
        paying the going price for heating oil or seeking public or 
        private assistance to pay for heating oil;
            (2) consumers experienced sudden and dramatic increases in 
        prices for home heating oil during the winters of 1989, 1996, 
        and 1999, causing hardship to families and other people of the 
        United States, including people on fixed and low incomes, 
        people living in rural areas, the elderly, farmers, truckers 
        and the driving public, and governments that pay home heating 
        oil bills;
            (3) a substantial part of each sudden increase in home 
        heating oil prices has been caused by vastly inadequate 
        supplies of home heating oil accumulated during the summer, 
        fall, and winter months by importers, refiners, and 
        wholesalers; and
            (4) increased stability in home heating oil prices is 
        necessary to maintain the economic vitality of the Northeast.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to ensure that minimally 
adequate stocks of home heating oil are accumulated in the Northeast to 
meet reasonably foreseeable demand during each winter while protecting 
consumers from sudden increases in the price of home heating oil.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 152 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (15 U.S.C. 
6232) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), 
        (7), (8), (9), (10), and (11) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (8), 
        (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), and (14);
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Home heating oil.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `home heating oil' 
                means distillate fuel oil.
                    ``(B) Inclusions.--The term `home heating oil' 
                includes No. 1 and No. 2 diesel and fuel oils.'';
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as redesignated by 
        paragraph (1)) the following:
            ``(6) Northeast.--The term `Northeast' means the States of 
        Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
        Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
            ``(7) Primary heating oil inventory.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `primary heating oil 
                inventory' means a heating oil inventory held by an 
                importer, refiner, or wholesaler.
                    ``(B) Exclusion.--The term `primary heating oil 
                inventory' does not include any inventory held by a 
                retailer for the direct sale to an end user of home 
                heating oil.''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) Wholesaler.--The term `wholesaler' means any person 
        that--
                    ``(A) owns, operates, leases, or otherwise controls 
                a bulk terminal having a total petroleum storage 
                capacity of 50,000 barrels or more;
                    ``(B) stores home heating oil; and
                    ``(C)(i) resells petroleum products to retail 
                businesses that market the petroleum products to end 
                users; or
                    ``(ii) receives petroleum products by tanker, 
                barge, or pipeline.
            ``(16) Winter season.--The term `winter season' means the 
        months of November through March.''.

SEC. 4. HOME HEATING OIL RESERVE FOR THE NORTHEAST.

    Part B of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (15 U.S.C. 6231 et 
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 157 the following:

``SEC. 157A. VOLUNTARY PLANS FOR HOME HEATING OIL RESERVE.

    ``(a) Submission and Development of Voluntary Plans.--Importers, 
refiners, and wholesalers that hold primary heating oil inventories for 
sale to markets in the Northeast, acting individually or in 1 or more 
groups, should, for the purposes of ensuring stability in energy fuel 
markets and protecting consumers from dramatic swings in price--
            ``(1) develop voluntary plans, in consultation with 
        interested individuals from nonprofit organizations and the 
        public and private sectors, to maintain readily available 
        minimum product inventories of heating oil in the Northeast, 
        possibly in combination with the hedging of future inventories, 
        to mitigate the risk of severe price increases to consumers and 
        to reduce adverse impacts on the regional and national 
        economies; and
            ``(2) submit the voluntary plans to the Secretary not later 
        than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section.
    ``(b) Certification and Report.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the Secretary determines that a plan 
        submitted under subsection (a)--
                    ``(A) is likely to achieve the purposes of this 
                Act, the Secretary shall so certify, and the importer, 
                refiner, or wholesaler shall implement the plan; or
                    ``(B) is not likely to achieve the purposes of this 
                section, the Secretary shall issue a statement 
                explaining why the plan does not appear likely to 
                achieve those purposes.
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than 240 days after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress a report describing the findings and reasons for a 
        certification or failure to certify a plan under this 
        subsection.
    ``(c) Defense to Antitrust Actions.--
            ``(1) In general.--There shall be available as a defense to 
        a civil or criminal action brought under the antitrust laws (or 
        any similar State law) with respect to an action taken to 
        develop and carry out a voluntary plan under subsection (a) by 
        an importer, refiner, or wholesaler the fact that--
                    ``(A) the action is taken--
                            ``(i) in the course of developing the 
                        voluntary plan; and
                            ``(ii) in the course of carrying out the 
                        voluntary plan, if the voluntary plan is 
                        certified by the Secretary under subsection 
                        (b);
                    ``(B) the action is not taken for the purpose of 
                injuring competition; and
                    ``(C) the importer, refiner, or wholesaler is in 
                compliance with this section.
            ``(2) Limitation.--Except in the case of an action taken to 
        develop a voluntary plan, the defense provided in paragraph (1) 
        shall be available only if the person asserting the defense 
        demonstrates that the action was specified in, or within the 
        reasonable contemplation of, a voluntary plan certified by the 
        Secretary.
            ``(3) Burden of proof.--A person interposing the defense 
        under paragraph (1) shall have the burden of proof, except that 
        the burden shall be on the person against which the defense is 
        asserted with respect to whether an action is taken for the 
        purpose of injuring competition.
    ``(d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report describing the results of the implementation of all 
voluntary plans certified under this section, including specific 
compliance by importers, refiners, and wholesalers that serve the 
Northeast market with respect to the adequacy of the home heating oil 
supply.
    ``(e) Plan Adopted by Secretary.--If, by the date that is 240 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, for each importer, 
refiner, and wholesaler in the Northeast, a certified plan is not 
implemented in accordance with subsection (b), the Secretary shall 
adopt and implement a plan in accordance with section 157B.

``SEC. 157B. HOME HEATING OIL RESERVE FOR THE NORTHEAST.

    ``(a) Establishment of Private Home Heating Oil Reserves.--If a 
certified plan described in section 157A is not implemented in 
accordance with that section for each importer, refiner, and wholesaler 
that stores home heating oil for sale in the Northeast, not later than 
300 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 
shall establish a private home heating oil reserve for the Northeast in 
accordance with this section.
    ``(b) Inventory.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Secretary shall periodically monitor supply levels as necessary 
to ensure that each importer, refiner, and wholesaler of home heating 
oil that stores home heating oil for sale in the Northeast shall have 
in inventory and readily available to refiners in the Northeast a 
quantity of home heating oil that the Secretary determines is equal to 
the quantity that each importer, refiner, or wholesaler may reasonably 
be expected to require to supply the needs of its customers during the 
present or following winter season without subjecting consumers to 
sudden price increases that are due in part to inadequate buildup of 
heating oil inventories.
            ``(2) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not require any 
        importer, refiner, or wholesaler to store any product under 
        paragraph (1) in a quantity greater than 95 percent of the 
        average storage capacity for home heating oil reasonably 
        available to the importer, refiner, or wholesaler during the 
        preceding 2 years.
            ``(3) Increased inventory.--If the Secretary determines 
        that an inventory of home heating oil does not meet the 
        requirement of under paragraph (1), the Secretary may direct an 
        importer, refiner, or wholesaler to acquire, store, and 
        maintain in readily available inventories any quantity of home 
        heating oil that the Secretary determines to be necessary to 
        supply heating oil needs in the Northeast without subjecting 
        consumers to sudden price increases that are due in part to 
        inadequate buildup of heating oil inventories.
            ``(4) Regulations.--As soon as practicable after the date 
        of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall promulgate 
        regulations necessary to carry out this section, including 
        regulations that--
                    ``(A) authorize civil penalties to enforce this 
                section; and
                    ``(B) provide that the Secretary shall cooperate 
                with State energy authorities in carrying out this 
                section.
    ``(c) Excess Inventory.--At the end of each winter season, the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall take 
appropriate and reasonable action to enable importers, refiners, and 
wholesalers of home heating oil to sell any remaining excess 
inventories of heating oil that the importers, refiners, and 
wholesalers may have.
    ``(d) Implementation.--In implementing this section, the Secretary 
shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the manner of 
implementation supports the maintenance of an economically sound and 
competitive petroleum industry.
    ``(e) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the implementation of a 
plan under this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
report describing the results of the implementation of the plan, 
including specific compliance by importers, refiners, and wholesalers 
in the Northeast with respect to home heating oil supply buildup.''.