II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1979 

To provide for the establishment of a strategic refinery reserve, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2005 

Mr. KOHL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a strategic refinery 

reserve, 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. STRATEGIC REFINERY RESERVE. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 

6 shall establish and operate a Strategic Refinery Re7 serve (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Reserve’’) 

8 in the United States. 

9 (2) AUTHORITIES.—To carry out this sub10 section, the Secretary of Energy may contract for— 
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1 (A) the construction or operation of new 

2 refineries; or 

3 (B) the acquisition or reopening of closed 

4 refineries. 

5 (b) OPERATION.—The Secretary of Energy shall op6 erate the Reserve— 

7 (1) to provide petroleum products to— 

8 (A) the Federal Government (including the 

9 Department of Defense); and 

10 (B) any State governments and political 

11 subdivisions of States that opt to purchase re12 fined petroleum products from the Reserve; and 

13 (2) to provide petroleum products to the general 

14 public during any period described in subsection (c). 

15 (c) EMERGENCY PERIODS.—The Secretary of Energy 

16 shall make petroleum products from the Reserve available 

17 under subsection (b)(2) only if the President determines 

18 that— 

19 (1) there is a severe energy supply interruption 

20 within the meaning of the term under section 3 of 

21 the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 6202); or 

23 (2)(A) there is a regional petroleum product 

24 supply shortage of significant scope and duration; 

25 and 
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1 (B) action taken under subsection (b)(2) would 

2 directly and significantly assist in reducing the ad3 verse impact of the shortage. 

4 (d) LOCATIONS.—In determining the location of a re5 finery for inclusion in the Reserve, the Secretary of En6 ergy shall take into account— 

7 (1) the impact of the refinery on the local com8 munity, as determined after requesting and review9 ing any comments from State and local governments 

10 and the public; 

11 (2) regional vulnerability to— 

12 (A) natural disasters; and 

13 (B) terrorist attacks; 

14 (3) the proximity of the refinery to the Stra15 tegic Petroleum Reserve; 

16 (4) the accessibility of the refinery to energy in17 frastructure and Federal facilities (including facili18 ties under the jurisdiction of the Department of De19 fense); 

20 (5) the need to minimize adverse public health 

21 and environmental impacts; and 

22 (6) the energy needs of the Federal Government 

23 (including the Department of Defense). 

24 (e) INCREASED CAPACITY.—The Secretary of Energy 

25 shall ensure that refineries in the Reserve are designed 
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1 to provide a rapid increase in production capacity during 

2 periods described in subsection (c). 

3 (f) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary of Energy shall submit to Congress a plan for 

7 the establishment and operation of the Reserve 

8 under this section. 

9 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The plan required under 

10 paragraph (1) shall— 

11 (A)(i)(I) provide for, within 2 years after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, a capacity 

13 within the Reserve equal to 5 percent of the 

14 total United States daily demand for gasoline, 

15 diesel, and aviation fuel; and 

16 (II) provide for a capacity within the Re17 serve such that not less than 75 percent of the 

18 gasoline and diesel fuel produced by the Re19 serve contain an average of 10 percent renew20 able fuel (as that term is defined in 

21 211(o)(1)(C) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 7545(o)(1)(C)); or 

23 (ii) if the Secretary of Energy finds that 

24 achieving the capacity described in either sub-
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1 clause (I) or (II) of clause (i) is not feasible 

2 within 2 years, include— 

3 (I) an explanation from the Secretary 

4 of Energy of the reasons why achieving the 

5 capacity within the timeframe is not fea6 sible; and 

7 (II) provisions for achieving the re8 quired capacity as soon as practicable; and 

9 (B) provide for adequate delivery systems 

10 capable of providing Reserve product to the en11 tities described in subsection (b)(1). 

12 (g) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

13 carry out this section in coordination with the Secretary 

14 of Defense. 

15 (h) COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL

16 REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this section affects any re17 quirement to comply with Federal or State environmental 

18 or other laws. 

19 SEC. 2. REPORTS ON REFINERY CLOSURES. 

20 (a) REPORTS TO SECRETARY OF ENERGY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days be22 fore permanently closing a refinery in the United 

23 States, the owner or operator of the refinery shall 

24 provide to the Secretary of Energy notice of the clos25 ing. 
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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The notice required 

2 under paragraph (1) with respect to a refinery to be 

3 closed shall include an explanation of the reasons for 

4 the closing of the refinery. 

5 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of En6 ergy shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, 

7 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen8 cy, and the Federal Trade Commission and as soon as 

9 practicable after receipt of a report under subsection (a), 

10 submit to Congress— 

11 (1) the report; and 

12 (2) an analysis of the effects of the proposed 

13 closing covered by the report on— 

14 (A) in accordance with the Clean Air Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), supplies of clean fuel; 

16 (B) petroleum product prices; 

17 (C) competition in the refining industry; 

18 (D) the national economy; 

19 (E) regional economies; 

20 (F) regional supplies of refined petroleum 

21 products; 

22 (G) the supply of fuel to the Department 

23 of Defense; and 

24 (H) energy security. 

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