Stable Oil Supply Home Heating Act

Summary: Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue an order requiring the establishment of a private home heating oil reserve for the Northeast if a certified plan has not been implemented within a specified time frame for an importer, refiner, or wholesaler that stores heating oil for sale in the Northeast; (2) periodically monitor supply levels to ensure that home heating oil inventories in the Northeast are adequate to supply customer needs during the present or following winter season so as to obviate sudden price increases caused by inadequate inventories; (3) require an importer, refiner, or wholesaler to increase its inventory if the Secretary determines that inventories are insufficient; and (4) establish civil penalties and cooperate with State energy authorities in carrying out this Act.
Instructs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to enable importers, refiners, or wholesalers to sell their remaining excess inventories at the end of each winter season.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stable Oil Supply 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 home heating oil or seeking public 
        or private assistance to pay for home 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 (42 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), respectively;
            (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) of this section) 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 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.

    (a) Amendment.--Part B of title I 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) Development and Submission 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, shall, 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 home heating oil for sale 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 the 
                Stable Oil Supply Home Heating 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 the 
                Stable Oil Supply Home Heating Act, 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 each plan submitted under 
        subsection (a).
    ``(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 by an 
        importer, refiner, or wholesaler the fact that--
                    ``(A) the action is taken--
                            ``(i) in the course of developing a 
                        voluntary plan for submittal under subsection 
                        (a); or
                            ``(ii) in the course of carrying out the 
                        voluntary plan, if the voluntary plan is 
                        certified by the Secretary under subsection 
                        (b)(1)(A), but only to the extent specified in 
                        or within the reasonable contemplation of the 
                        voluntary plan;
                    ``(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 and section 157B.
            ``(2) Burden of proof.--A person asserting 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) Applicability.--The requirements of this section and section 
157B shall not apply to an importer or refiner whose total petroleum 
storage capacity is less than 50,000 barrels.
    ``(e) 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.

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

    ``(a) Establishment of Private Home Heating Oil Reserves.--If, 
after the expiration of 240 days after the date of enactment of this 
section, a certified plan described in section 157A has not been 
implemented in accordance with that section for an importer, refiner, 
or wholesaler that stores heating oil for sale in the Northeast, not 
later than 300 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall issue an order requiring the establishment of 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 
        heating oil for sale in the Northeast shall have in inventory 
        and readily available to retailers or consumers 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) Increased inventory.--If the Secretary determines 
        under paragraph (1) that an inventory of home heating oil is 
        insufficient, the Secretary shall 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 home 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.
            ``(3) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not require any 
        importer, refiner, or wholesaler to store any product under 
        this subsection in a quantity greater than 95 percent of the 
        average storage capacity for heating oil reasonably available 
        to the importer, refiner, or wholesaler during the preceding 2 
        years.
            ``(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) establish 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 home 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 22 months after the date of enactment 
of this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
describing the results of the implementation of this section and 
section 157A, including specific compliance by importers, refiners, and 
wholesalers subject to the requirements of this section and section 
157A with respect to home heating oil supply buildup.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents of the 
Energy Policy and Conservation Act is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 157 the following items:

``Sec. 157A. Voluntary plans for home heating oil reserve.
``Sec. 157B. Home heating oil reserve for the Northeast.''.