II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1854 

To prohibit price gouging for commodities and services sold during national 

emergency situations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2005 

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

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit price gouging for commodities and services sold 

during national emergency situations. 

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 ‘‘Treat Emergency Vic5 tims Fairly Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Price gouging in emergencies, including nat9 ural disasters and other emergencies, is reprehen10 sible commercial activity. 
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1 (2) Emergencies place great strains on commer2 cial and consumer relationships in the areas af3 fected. 

4 (3) Emergencies can strain commercial and 

5 consumer relationships in areas beyond those di6 rectly damaged or affected by the emergency. 

7 (4) It is an unfortunate truth that some will try 

8 to take advantage of others in emergency situations 

9 by price gouging for consumer and other commercial 

10 goods or services. 

11 (5) Price gouging can take place prior to, dur12 ing, and following natural disasters and other emer13 gencies. 

14 (6) Price gouging in commercial and consumer 

15 settings affects interstate commerce. 

16 (7) Price gouging— 

17 (A) distorts markets without regard to 

18 State lines; 

19 (B) disturbs and interferes with the flow of 

20 commodities and services across State lines; 

21 and 

22 (C) creates or exacerbates shortages and 

23 interruptions of supplies of materials across 

24 State lines. 
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1 (8) It is in the interest of the United States to 

2 prohibit and deter price gouging. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘emergency’’ 

6 means a natural disaster or other circumstance or 

7 event that is formally declared to be an emergency 

8 by Federal or State authorities. An emergency may 

9 be associated with a designated area. 

10 (2) GOODS OR SERVICES.—The term ‘‘goods or 

11 services’’ means goods or services of any type, in12 cluding food, transportation, housing, and energy 

13 supplies. 

14 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a nat15 ural person, corporation, governmental body, or 

16 other entity. 

17 (4) PRICE GOUGING.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘price 

19 gouging’’ means charging an unreasonable and 

20 unconscionable price for a good or service im21 mediately prior to, during, or following an 

22 emergency. 

23 (B) PRESUMPTION.— 
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1 (i) AFFIRMATIVE.—A price for a good 

2 or service is presumed to be unreasonable 

3 and unconscionable— 

4 (I) in the designated area of an 

5 emergency if it reflects a price in6 crease at least 10 percent greater 

7 than the average price for the good or 

8 service charged by the seller in the 

9 designated area during the 30 days 

10 prior to the formal declaration of the 

11 emergency; and 

12 (II) outside the designated area 

13 of an emergency if the price is af14 fected by the emergency and if the 

15 price reflects a price increase at least 

16 10 percent greater than the average 

17 price for the good or service charged 

18 by the seller in the area of the sale 

19 during the 30 days prior to the formal 

20 declaration of an emergency. 

21 For purposes of subclause (II), a price is 

22 presumed to be affected by the emergency 

23 if, within 30 days following the declaration 

24 of the emergency, the price is at least 25 

25 percent greater than the average price for 
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1 the good or service charged by the seller in 

2 the area of the sale during the 30 days 

3 prior to the formal declaration of the emer4 gency. 

5 (ii) NEGATIVE.—A price for a good or 

6 service is not unreasonable and uncon7 scionable if it reflects only the cost of the 

8 good or service to the seller prior to the 

9 emergency, the average profit margin of 

10 the seller during the 30 days prior to the 

11 formal declaration of an emergency, and 

12 the increased costs actually incurred by the 

13 seller to sell the good or service during or 

14 following the emergency. 

15 SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any seller 

17 of goods or services to engage in price gouging. 

18 (b) LITIGATION.—A cause of action under this sec19 tion may be brought— 

20 (1) in Federal or State court; and 

21 (2) by the Federal Government, through the At22 torney General, or a State Government acting 

23 through its attorney general. 

24 (c) VENUE AND PROCEDURE.— 
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1 (1) FEDERAL COURT.—An action in Federal 

2 court under this section may be brought in any court 

3 whose jurisdiction includes— 

4 (A) the geographic area in which price 

5 gouging is alleged to have occurred; or 

6 (B) the State which is a plaintiff in the ac7 tion. 

8 (2) STATE COURT.—An action in State court 

9 under this section shall conform to State rules of 

10 procedure. 

11 (d) EXPEDITED FEDERAL CONSIDERATION.—An ac12 tion under this section in Federal court shall receive expe13 dited review. 

14 (e) INVESTIGATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the course of an in16 vestigation under this section by the Attorney Gen17 eral of the United States or a State attorney gen18 eral, whether prior to filing an action or during such 

19 an action, the investigating attorney general may— 

20 (A) order any person to file a statement, 

21 report in writing, or answer questions in writ22 ing, under oath or otherwise, concerning facts 

23 or circumstances reasonably related to alleged 

24 price gouging; 
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1 (B) order any person to provide data or in2 formation the attorney general reasonably 

3 deems to be necessary to an investigation; and 

4 (C) issue subpoenas to require the attend5 ance of witnesses or the production of relevant 

6 documents, administer oaths, and conduct hear7 ings in aid of the investigation. 

8 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—A subpoena issued under 

9 this subsection may be enforced in Federal or State 

10 court. 

11 (3) PENALTY.—Failure to comply with an order 

12 or subpoena under this subsection is subject to a 

13 civil penalty of up to $10,000. 

14 (f) LIMITATION.—An action under this section shall 

15 be brought not later than 3 years of the date of the sale 

16 of the goods or services at issue. 

17 SEC. 5. DAMAGES AND PENALTIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—A prevailing plaintiff shall be enti19 tled to— 

20 (1) plaintiff’s damages incurred as a result of 

21 the price gouging, including without limitation a re22 fund of all prices paid by the plaintiff in excess of 

23 conscionable and reasonable prices; 

24 (2) injunctive relief prohibiting the defendant 

25 from price gouging or mandating action; and 
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1 (3) attorneys fees and costs incurred by the 

2 plaintiff. 

3 (b) RESTITUTION.—The Attorney General of the 

4 United States and a State attorney general, in an action 

5 brought on behalf of the citizens of the United States or 

6 a State, respectively, may recover restitution or 

7 disgorgement of excess profits on behalf of those citizens. 

8 (c) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who violates sec10 tion 4(a) shall be subject to civil penalties of up to 

11 $10,000 per incident. 

12 (2) DISPOSITION OF PENALTIES.—Civil pen13 alties collected through an action by the United 

14 States Attorney General shall be deposited in the 

15 United States Treasury. Civil penalties collected 

16 through an action by an attorney general of a State 

17 shall be deposited in the State’s treasury. The court 

18 may apportion the deposit of civil penalties as appro19 priate in the circumstances. 

20 SEC. 6. ATTORNEY GENERAL AUTHORITIES. 

21 The Attorney General of the United States shall— 

22 (1) provide assistance to and cooperate with the 

23 States in State investigations of price gouging and 

24 in State litigation brought under this Act; 
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1 (2) create and disseminate guidelines designed 

2 to assist the public to recognize and report price 

3 gouging and establish a system to gather and dis4 seminate information about instances of reported 

5 price gouging; and 

6 (3) provide grants to offices of the State attor7 neys general of not greater than $50,000 in order to 

8 support the pursuit of price gouging investigations 

9 and other activities. 

10 SEC. 7. SAVINGS PROVISION. 

11 This Act shall not preempt or otherwise affect any 

12 State or local law. 

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