II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1476 

To require all new and upgraded fuel pumps to be equipped with automatic 

temperature compensation equipment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2009 

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require all new and upgraded fuel pumps to be equipped 

with automatic temperature compensation equipment, 

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 ‘‘Future Accountability 

5 in Retail Fuel Act’’ or the ‘‘FAIR Fuel Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION

9 EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘automatic temperature 

10 compensation equipment’’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term in the National Institute of Standards and 

2 Technology Handbook 44. 

3 (2) EQUIVALENT STANDARD.—The term 

4 ‘‘equivalent standard’’ means any standard that pro5 hibits the retail sale of gasoline with energy content 

6 per gallon that is different than the energy content 

7 of 1 gallon of gasoline stored at 60 degrees Fahr8 enheit. 

9 (3) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

10 means any area other than— 

11 (A) a city, town, or unincorporated area 

12 that has a population of greater than 50,000 

13 inhabitants; or 

14 (B) the urbanized area that is contiguous 

15 and adjacent to such a city, town, or unincor16 porated area. 

17 (4) SMALL-VOLUME STATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘small-volume station’’ means any retail fuel estab19 lishment that dispenses fewer than 360,000 gallons 

20 of gasoline and diesel fuel per year. 

21 SEC. 3. AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION 

22 EQUIPMENT. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (1) NEW MOTOR FUEL DISPENSERS.—Begin25 ning 180 days after the issuance of final regulations 


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1 under subsection (c), all motor fuel dispensers that 

2 are newly installed or upgraded at any retail fuel es3 tablishment in the United States shall be equipped 

4 with automatic temperature compensation equipment 

5 to ensure that any volume of gasoline or diesel fuel 

6 measured by such dispenser for retail sale is equal 

7 to the volume that such quantity of fuel would equal 

8 at the time of such sale if the temperature of the 

9 fuel was 60 degrees Fahrenheit. 

10 (2) EXISTING MOTOR FUEL DISPENSERS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

12 subparagraph (B), not later than 5 years after 

13 the issuance of final regulations under sub14 section (c), all motor fuel dispensers at any re15 tail fuel establishment in the United States 

16 shall be equipped with the automatic tempera17 ture compensation equipment described in para18 graph (1). 

19 (B) SMALL-VOLUME STATIONS.—Small-vol20 ume stations located in rural areas shall not be 

21 subject to the requirement under subparagraph 

22 (A). 

23 (b) INSPECTIONS.— 

24 (1) ANNUAL INSPECTION.—Beginning on the 

25 date described in subsection (a), State inspectors 


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1 conducting an initial or annual inspection of motor 

2 fuel dispensers are authorized to determine if such 

3 dispensers are equipped with the automatic tempera4 ture compensation equipment required under sub5 section (a). 

6 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If the State inspector de7 termines that a motor fuel dispenser does not com8 ply with the requirement under subsection (a), the 

9 State inspector is authorized to notify the Federal 

10 Trade Commission, through an electronic notifica11 tion system developed by the Commission, of such 

12 noncompliance. 

13 (3) FOLLOW-UP INSPECTION.—Not earlier than 

14 180 days after a motor fuel dispenser is found to be 

15 out of compliance with the requirement under sub16 section (a), the Federal Trade Commission shall co17 ordinate a follow-up inspection of such motor fuel 

18 dispenser. 

19 (4) FINE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The owner or operator 

21 of any retail fuel establishment with a motor 

22 fuel dispenser subject to the requirement under 

23 subsection (a) that is determined to be out of 

24 compliance with such requirement shall be subVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:46 Jul 21, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1476.IS S1476

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1 ject to a fine equal to $5,000 for each non2 compliant motor fuel dispenser. 

3 (B) ADDITIONAL FINE.—If a motor fuel 

4 dispenser is determined to be out of compliance 

5 during a follow-up inspection, the owner or op6 erator of the retail fuel establishment at which 

7 such motor fuel dispenser is located shall be 

8 subject to an additional fine equal to $5,000. 

9 (5) USE OF FINES.—Any amounts collected 

10 under paragraph (4) shall be deposited into the trust 

11 fund established under section 4. 

12 (c) RULEMAKING.— 

13 (1) COMMENCEMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fed15 eral Trade Commission, in consultation with the Na16 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, shall 

17 commence a rulemaking procedure to implement the 

18 requirement under subsection (a). 

19 (2) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 

20 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

21 Federal Trade Commission shall issue final regula22 tions to implement the requirement under subsection 

23 (a), including specifying which volume correction 

24 factor tables shall be used for the range of gasoline 


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1 and diesel fuel products that are sold to retail cus2 tomers in the United States. 

3 SEC. 4. AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION 

4 EQUIPMENT GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

7 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be 

8 known as the ‘‘Automatic Temperature Compensa9 tion Equipment Trust Fund’’ (referred to in this 

10 section as the ‘‘Trust Fund’’). 

11 (2) TRANSFERS.—The Secretary of the Treas12 ury shall transfer to the Trust Fund out of the gen13 eral fund of the Treasury an amount equal to the 

14 amount collected as fines under section 3(b)(4). 

15 (3) INVESTMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas16 ury shall invest such portion of the Trust Fund as 

17 is not required to meet current withdrawals. Such 

18 investments may be made only in interest-bearing 

19 obligations of the United States. 

20 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

22 is authorized to use amounts in the Trust Fund for 

23 grants to owners and operators of retail fuel estab24 lishments to offset the costs associated with the inVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:46 Jul 21, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1476.IS S1476

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1 stallation of automatic temperature compensation 

2 equipment on motor fuel dispensers. 

3 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary may 

4 not award a grant under this subsection in excess 

5 of— 

6 (A) $1,000 per motor fuel dispenser; or 

7 (B) $10,000 per grant recipient. 

8 (3) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—An owner or oper9 ator of not more than 5 retail fuel establishments is 

10 eligible to receive a grant under this subsection. 

11 (4) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Grant funds re12 ceived under this subsection may be used to offset 

13 the costs incurred by owners and operators of retail 

14 establishments to acquire and install automatic tem15 perature compensation equipment in accordance with 

16 the requirement under section 3(a). 

17 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

19 as may be necessary to carry out this subsection. 

20 (c) REIMBURSEMENT OF STATE INSPECTION

21 COSTS.—The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to use 

22 amounts in the Trust Fund to reimburse States for the 

23 costs incurred by the States to— 

24 (1) inspect motor fuel dispensers for compliance 

25 with the requirement under section 3(a); and 


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1 (2) notify the Secretary of Commerce of any 

2 noncompliance with such requirement. 

3 SEC. 5. SAVINGS PROVISION. 

4 Nothing in this Act may be construed to preempt a 

5 State from enacting a law that imposes an equivalent 

6 standard or a more stringent standard concerning the re7 tail sale of gasoline at certain temperatures. 

Æ 


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