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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2256 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2256

 To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to improve 
     the coordination of refinery outages, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 4, 2013

 Mr. Walz (for himself, Mr. Nolan, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Ellison, and Mr. 
  Peterson) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to improve 
     the coordination of refinery outages, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Gas Price and Refinery Capacity 
Relief Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF REFINERY OUTAGES.

    Section 804 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 
U.S.C. 17283) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 804. COORDINATION OF REFINERY OUTAGES.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the 
        Administrator of the Energy Information Administration.
            ``(2) Planned refinery outage.--The term `planned refinery 
        outage' means a removal, scheduled before the date on which the 
        removal occurs, of a refinery, or any unit of a refinery, from 
        service for maintenance, repair, or modification.
            ``(3) Refined petroleum product.--The term `refined 
        petroleum product' means any gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, 
        lubricating oil, liquid petroleum gas, or other petroleum 
        distillate that is produced through the refining or processing 
        of crude oil or an oil derived from tar sands, shale, or coal.
            ``(4) Refinery.--The term `refinery' means a facility used 
        in the production of a refined petroleum product through 
        distillation, cracking, or any other process.
            ``(5) Unplanned refinery outage.--The `unplanned refinery 
        outage' means the removal of a refinery, or any unit of a 
        refinery, from service that is not scheduled in advance.
    ``(b) Reporting Requirement.--The owner or operator of a refinery 
shall submit to the Administrator information describing--
            ``(1) the schedule of the refinery for any planned refinery 
        outage, including--
                    ``(A) the dates for the planned refinery outage at 
                least 1 year in advance of the date of the expected 
                outage or the date the outage is scheduled; and
                    ``(B) the estimated inventories and production of 
                refined petroleum products during the period described 
                in subparagraph (A); and
            ``(2) any unplanned refinery outages as soon as practicable
    ``(c) Review and Analysis of Available Information.--The 
Administrator shall, on an ongoing basis--
            ``(1) review information on planned refinery outages and 
        unplanned refinery outages--
                    ``(A) reported by refineries under subsection (b); 
                and
                    ``(B) that is available from commercial reporting 
                services;
            ``(2) analyze that information to determine whether the 
        scheduling of a planned refinery outage or an unplanned 
        refinery outage may nationally or regionally substantially 
        affect the price or supply of any refined petroleum product 
        by--
                    ``(A) decreasing the production of the refined 
                petroleum product; and
                    ``(B) causing or contributing to a retail or 
                wholesale supply shortage or disruption; and
            ``(3) alert the Secretary of any refinery outage that the 
        Administrator determines may nationally or regionally 
        substantially affect the price or supply of a refined petroleum 
        product.
    ``(d) Action by Secretary.--On a determination by the Secretary 
that a refinery outage may affect the price or supply of a refined 
petroleum product, the Secretary shall make available to refinery 
operators information on planned refinery outages or unplanned refinery 
outages to prevent significant market disruptions.
    ``(e) Limitation.--Nothing in this section--
            ``(1) alters any existing legal obligation or 
        responsibility of a refinery operator;
            ``(2) creates any legal right of action; or
            ``(3) authorizes the Secretary--
                    ``(A) to prohibit a refinery operator from 
                conducting a planned refinery outage; or
                    ``(B) to require a refinery operator to continue to 
                operate a refinery.
    ``(f) Study on National Strategic Refined Petroleum Products 
Reserve.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall study and 
        submit to Congress a report on the costs and benefits of 
        creating a national strategic refined petroleum products 
        reserve for refined petroleum products.
            ``(2) Information.--The report required under paragraph (1) 
        shall include information on--
                    ``(A) the days of existing storage capabilities 
                within the different petroleum administration defense 
                districts based on normal usage of refined petroleum 
                products;
                    ``(B) the feasibility of increasing storage 
                capacity for refined petroleum products on a regional 
                basis; and
                    ``(C) the impact additional storage capacity would 
                have on the retail price of refined petroleum products 
                for consumers in the event of a supply shortage or 
                market disruption from a natural disaster or refinery 
                outage.''.
                                 <all>
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