I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 142 

To establish a national Strategic Gasoline Reserve. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 5, 2011 

Mr. KISSELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish a national Strategic Gasoline Reserve. 

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 ‘‘National Strategic 

5 Gasoline Reserve for Purposes of National Security Act 

6 of 2011’’. 

7 SEC. 2. STRATEGIC GASOLINE RESERVE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 (1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Energy 

10 shall establish a Strategic Gasoline Reserve (in this 

11 section referred to as the ‘‘Gasoline Reserve’’) sysVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:03 Jan 11, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H142.IH H142

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1 tem with a total capacity of 10,000,000 barrels of 

2 regular unleaded gasoline. 

3 (2) RESERVE LOCATIONS.—No later than 1 

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

5 Secretary shall determine strategic locations for no 

6 less than three and no more than five Gasoline Re7 serve sites, each located in a different geographical 

8 region of the United States. When determining site 

9 locations, the Secretary shall consider all factors in10 cluding, but not limited to, seasonal and regional 

11 variations in gasoline, cost, regional population, ac12 cessibility for distribution, and the region’s vulner13 ability to natural disasters and acts of terrorism. 

14 The Secretary shall endeavor to find the most af15 fordable method for storage and when possible 

16 should consider the methodology used for the cre17 ation of the Home Heating Oil Reserve and the 

18 Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Gasoline Reserve site 

19 locations shall be operational within 2 years after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 (3) ONSITE PROTECTION.—In establishing the 

22 Gasoline Reserve under this section, the Secretary of 

23 Energy shall confer with the Secretary of Transpor24 tation and the Secretary of Homeland Security with 


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1 respect to physical structures’ security, the transpor2 tation security, and operational security. 

3 (b) TRANSPORTATION.—Not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy 

5 shall transmit to the Congress, the Secretary of Homeland 

6 Security, and the Governor of each State, in which a re7 serve will be sited, a plan for the transportation of the 

8 contents of the Gasoline Reserve under this section to 

9 wholesale or retail markets in the event of an emergency 

10 sale under subsection (e). 

11 (c) CAPACITY.—The Secretary of Energy shall com12 plete the process of filling the Gasoline Reserve to a min13 imum of 90 percent within 2 years after submitting a 

14 transportation plan to the Congress under subsection (b). 

15 (d) AGING SUPPLY.—The Secretary shall conduct an 

16 annual review of the Gasoline Reserve supply to ensure 

17 that reserves do not exceed their shelf-life. The Secretary 

18 shall have in place within 2 years after the date of enact19 ment of this Act a plan for ensuring that the inventory 

20 of the Gasoline Reserve is sold and replaced in a manner 

21 that ensures the integrity of the product at all times. The 

22 Secretary shall have the authority to exchange an aging 

23 supply of reserve gasoline through private sales or by uti24 lizing the fuel for military or Government use. The SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:03 Jan 11, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H142.IH H142

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1 retary shall seek the best means to minimize transaction 

2 expense. 

3 (e) REQUESTS FOR EMERGENCY SALE AUTHORIZA4 TION.—The Secretary of Energy shall sell gasoline from 

5 the Gasoline Reserve if— 

6 (1) the Governor of an affected State submits 

7 a written request that— 

8 (A) provides sufficient evidence that the 

9 sale or supply of gasoline in the region has been 

10 severely disrupted caused in significant part by 

11 an interruption in the normal distribution or 

12 availability of gasoline which dramatically af13 fects the price of gasoline; and 

14 (B) provides sufficient evidence that the 

15 State would experience further adverse effects 

16 without the sale of gasoline from the Gasoline 

17 Reserve; and 

18 (2) the President issues an Executive Order re19 quiring immediate release from any or all reserves 

20 after determining that the conditions specified in 

21 paragraph (1) are satisfied. 

22 (f) PROCEDURE.— 

23 (1) SECRETARY’S RESPONSE.—The Secretary of 

24 Energy shall respond to a request transmitted under 

25 subsection (e)(1) within 7 days of receipt of the reVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:03 Jan 11, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H142.IH H142

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1 quest through a written response, regardless of the 

2 decision. 

3 (2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

4 may request additional information if the Secretary 

5 concludes there are insufficient reasons provided in 

6 a request for the sale of gasoline from the Gasoline 

7 Reserve. 

8 (g) PURCHASE.—The Secretary of Energy is author9 ized to conduct purchases and sales of gasoline at whole10 sale for maintenance of the Gasoline Reserve system. In 

11 conducting these transactions, the Secretary shall— 

12 (1) ensure that the overall supply returns to a 

13 minimum 90 percent capacity in a timely manner 

14 following a sizeable depletion due to an emergency; 

15 and 

16 (2) assess market conditions to avoid to the ex17 tent possible purchases when prices appear to be at 

18 higher levels unlikely to be sustained, or when pur19 chases of gasoline are likely to significantly raise 

20 gasoline prices in the market served by a particular 

21 Reserve, consistent with the need for timely replen22 ishment of the Reserves after emergency or non23 emergency sales. 

24 (h) ANNUAL REPORT.—At a specified date as deter25 mined by the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary shall subVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:03 Jan 11, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H142.IH H142

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1 mit to the President, the Committee on Energy and Com2 merce of the House of Representatives and to the Com3 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

4 a report on the status of the Gasoline Reserve outlining 

5 the Reserve’s current capacity, emergency sales from the 

6 previous year, any security threats in the previous year, 

7 and the current condition of the storage facilities. The 

8 Secretary shall also include in the report any recommenda9 tions for improvements in the efficiency of the purchase, 

10 transportation, sale, and storage of the Gasoline Reserves. 

11 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of En13 ergy such sums as may be necessary for construction and 

14 operation of the Gasoline Reserve for fiscal years 2011 

15 through 2015. 

Æ 


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