I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2070 

To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and other fuels, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2013 

Mr. BISHOP of New York (for himself, Mr. WALZ, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

RAHALL, Mr. YARMUTH, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. TIERNEY, Ms. KUSTER, and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and 

other fuels, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Price Gouging 

5 Prevention Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING OF GASOLINE AND 

7 OTHER PETROLEUM DISTILLATES DURING 

8 EMERGENCIES. 

9 (a) UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

2 person to sell, at wholesale or at retail in an area 

3 and during a period of an international crisis affect4 ing the oil markets proclaimed under paragraph (2), 

5 gasoline or any other petroleum distillate covered by 

6 a proclamation issued under paragraph (2) at a 

7 price that— 

8 (A) is unconscionably excessive; and 

9 (B) indicates the seller is taking unfair ad10 vantage of the circumstances related to an 

11 international crisis to increase prices unreason12 ably. 

13 (2) ENERGY EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

15 issue a proclamation of an international crisis 

16 affecting the oil markets and may designate any 

17 area within the jurisdiction of the United 

18 States, where the prohibition in paragraph (1) 

19 shall apply. The proclamation shall state the ge20 ographic area covered, the gasoline or other pe21 troleum distillate covered, and the time period 

22 that such proclamation shall be in effect. 

23 (B) DURATION.—The proclamation— 

24 (i) may not apply for a period of more 

25 than 30 consecutive days, but may be reVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:10 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2070.IH H2070

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1 newed for such consecutive periods, each 

2 not to exceed 30 days, as the President de3 termines appropriate; and 

4 (ii) may include a period of time not 

5 to exceed 1 week preceding a reasonably 

6 foreseeable emergency. 

7 (3) FACTORS CONSIDERED.—In determining 

8 whether a person has violated paragraph (1), there 

9 shall be taken into account, among other factors— 

10 (A) whether the amount charged by such 

11 person for the applicable gasoline or other pe12 troleum distillate at a particular location in an 

13 area covered by a proclamation issued under 

14 paragraph (2) during the period such proclama15 tion is in effect— 

16 (i) grossly exceeds the average price 

17 at which the applicable gasoline or other 

18 petroleum distillate was offered for sale by 

19 that person during the 30 days prior to 

20 such proclamation; 

21 (ii) grossly exceeds the price at which 

22 the same or similar gasoline or other pe23 troleum distillate was readily obtainable in 

24 the same area from other competing sellers 

25 during the same period; 


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1 (iii) reasonably reflected additional 

2 costs, not within the control of that person, 

3 that were paid, incurred, or reasonably an4 ticipated by that person, or reflected addi5 tional risks taken by that person to 

6 produce, distribute, obtain, or sell such 

7 product under the circumstances; and 

8 (iv) was substantially attributable to 

9 local, regional, national, or international 

10 market conditions; and 

11 (B) whether the quantity of gasoline or 

12 other petroleum distillate the person produced, 

13 distributed, or sold in an area covered by a 

14 proclamation issued under paragraph (2) dur15 ing a 30-day period following the issuance of 

16 such proclamation increased over the quantity 

17 that that person produced, distributed, or sold 

18 during the 30 days prior to such proclamation, 

19 taking into account usual seasonal demand vari20 ations. 

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

22 (1) the term ‘‘wholesale’’, with respect to sales 

23 of gasoline or other petroleum distillates, means ei24 ther truckload or smaller sales of gasoline or petro25 leum distillates where title transfers at a product 


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1 terminal or a refinery, and dealer tank wagon sales 

2 of gasoline or petroleum distillates priced on a deliv3 ered basis to retail outlets; and 

4 (2) the term ‘‘retail’’, with respect to sales of 

5 gasoline or other petroleum distillates, includes all 

6 sales to end users such as motorists as well as all 

7 direct sales to other end users such as agriculture, 

8 industry, residential, and commercial consumers. 

9 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS10 SION. 

11 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY FTC.—A violation of section 

12 2 shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an un13 fair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 

14 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade Commission 

16 shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same 

17 means, and with the same jurisdiction as though all appli18 cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commis19 sion Act were incorporated into and made a part of this 

20 Act. In enforcing section 2 of this Act, the Commission 

21 shall give priority to enforcement actions concerning com22 panies with total United States wholesale or retail sales 

23 of gasoline and other petroleum distillates in excess of 

24 $10,000,000,000 per year. 

25 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the pen2 alties set forth under the Federal Trade Commission 

3 Act, any person who violates section 2 with actual 

4 knowledge or knowledge fairly implied on the basis 

5 of objective circumstances shall be subject to— 

6 (A) a civil penalty of not more than 3 

7 times the amount of profits gained by such per8 son through such violation; or 

9 (B) a civil penalty of not more than 

10 $100,000,000. 

11 (2) METHOD.—The penalties provided by para12 graph (1) shall be obtained in the same manner as 

13 civil penalties obtained under section 5 of the Fed14 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45). 

15 (3) MULTIPLE OFFENSES; MITIGATING FAC16 TORS.—In assessing the penalty provided by sub17 section (a)— 

18 (A) each day of a continuing violation shall 

19 be considered a separate violation; and 

20 (B) the court shall take into consideration, 

21 among other factors, the seriousness of the vio22 lation and the efforts of the person committing 

23 the violation to remedy the harm caused by the 

24 violation in a timely manner. 


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1 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any penalty appli3 cable under section 3, any person who violates section 2 

4 shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, in an 

5 amount not to exceed $500,000,000. 

6 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The criminal penalty provided 

7 by subsection (a) may be imposed only pursuant to a 

8 criminal action brought by the Attorney General or other 

9 officer of the Department of Justice. The Attorney Gen10 eral shall give priority to enforcement actions concerning 

11 companies with total United States wholesale or retail 

12 sales of gasoline and other petroleum distillates in excess 

13 of $10,000,000,000 per year. 

14 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT AT RETAIL LEVEL BY STATE ATTOR15 NEYS GENERAL. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State, as parens patriae, may 

17 bring a civil action on behalf of its residents in an appro18 priate district court of the United States to enforce the 

19 provisions of section 2 of this Act, or to impose the civil 

20 penalties authorized by section 3(b)(1)(B), whenever the 

21 attorney general of the State has reason to believe that 

22 the interests of the residents of the State have been or 

23 are being threatened or adversely affected by a violation 

24 of this Act or a regulation under this Act, involving a re25 tail sale. 


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1 (b) NOTICE.—The State shall serve written notice to 

2 the Federal Trade Commission of any civil action under 

3 subsection (a) prior to initiating such civil action. The no4 tice shall include a copy of the complaint to be filed to 

5 initiate such civil action, except that if it is not feasible 

6 for the State to provide such prior notice, the State shall 

7 provide such notice immediately upon instituting such civil 

8 action. 

9 (c) AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE.—Upon receiving the 

10 notice required by subsection (b), the Federal Trade Com11 mission may intervene in such civil action and upon inter12 vening— 

13 (1) be heard on all matters arising in such civil 

14 action; and 

15 (2) file petitions for appeal of a decision in such 

16 civil action. 

17 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing any 

18 civil action under subsection (a), nothing in this section 

19 shall prevent the attorney general of a State from exer20 cising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the 

21 laws of such State to conduct investigations or to admin22 ister oaths or affirmations or to compel the attendance 

23 of witnesses or the production of documentary and other 

24 evidence. 


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1 (e) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In a civil action 

2 brought under subsection (a)— 

3 (1) the venue shall be a judicial district in 

4 which— 

5 (A) the defendant operates; 

6 (B) the defendant was authorized to do 

7 business; or 

8 (C) the defendant in the civil action is 

9 found; 

10 (2) process may be served without regard to the 

11 territorial limits of the district or of the State in 

12 which the civil action is instituted; and 

13 (3) a person who participated with the defend14 ant in an alleged violation that is being litigated in 

15 the civil action may be joined in the civil action with16 out regard to the residence of the person. 

17 (f) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FEDERAL

18 ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Federal Trade Commission 

19 has instituted a civil action or an administrative action 

20 for violation of this Act, no State attorney general, or offi21 cial or agency of a State, may bring an action under this 

22 subsection during the pendency of that action against any 

23 defendant named in the complaint of the Federal Trade 

24 Commission or the other agency for any violation of this 

25 Act alleged in the complaint. 


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1 (g) ENFORCEMENT OF STATE LAW.—Nothing con2 tained in this section shall prohibit an authorized State 

3 official from proceeding in State court to enforce a civil 

4 or criminal statute of such State. 

5 SEC. 6. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

6 (a) OTHER AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL TRADE COM7 MISSION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit 

8 or affect in any way the Federal Trade Commission’s au9 thority to bring enforcement actions or take any other 

10 measure under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) or any other provision of law. 

12 (b) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this Act preempts any 

13 State law. 

Æ 


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