I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1951

To prohibit certain transfers or assignments of franchises, and to prohibit

certain fixing or maintaining of motor fuel prices, under the Petroleum

Marketing Practices Act.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 22, 2001

Mr. WYNN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To prohibit certain transfers or assignments of franchises,

and to prohibit certain fixing or maintaining of motor

fuel prices, under the Petroleum Marketing Practices

Act.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. TRANSFER OR ASSIGNMENT OF FRANCHISE.

4 Section 102 of the Petroleum Marketing Practices

5 Act (15 U.S.C. 2802) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(e) A franchisor of leased marketing premises shall

8 not transfer or assign its interests in the franchise during
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1 the term of the franchise unless the franchisor, at least

2 45 days before the proposed transfer or assignment, has—

3 ‘‘(1) made a bona fide offer to sell, transfer, or

4 assign to the franchisee the franchisor’s interests in

5 the leased marketing premises; or

6 ‘‘(2) if applicable, offered the franchisee a right

7 of first refusal of at least 45 days duration of an

8 offer, made by another, to purchase or acquire the

9 franchisor’s interests in the leased marketing prem10 ises.’’.

11 SEC. 2. FEE SHIFTING PROVISIONS.

12 Section 105(d) of the Petroleum Marketing Practices

13 Act (15 U.S.C. 2805(d)) is amended by adding at the end

14 the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(4)(A) Any provision of a franchise or marketing

16 agreement whereby, in the event of litigation under this

17 section between the parties, either party to the agreement

18 must pay for the prevailing party’s legal fees and expenses

19 is null and void and shall not be enforced.

20 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall apply to any litigation

21 commenced after the date of the enactment of this sub22 section, regardless of when the franchise or marketing

23 agreement was entered into.

24 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘legal

25 fees and expenses’ includes attorney fees, expert witness
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1 fees, electronic research expenses, copying expenses, para2 legal expenses, courier and messenger expenses, travel ex3 penses, deposition expenses, postage and shipping ex4 penses, overtime expenses, telephone and facsimile ex5 penses, court services expenses, document services ex6 penses, litigation support expenses, and consultant ex7 penses.’’.

8 SEC. 3. RETAIL PRICE SETTING.

9 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title I of the Petroleum Mar10 keting Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) is amended

11 by adding at the end the following new section:

12 ‘‘RETAIL PRICES

13 ‘‘SEC. 107. It shall be a violation of this title for a

14 refiner or distributor to fix or maintain the retail price

15 of motor fuel at a retail outlet supplied by that refiner

16 or distributor. This section shall not apply to retail outlets

17 operated by the refiner or distributor.’’.

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsections (a),

19 (b), and (d) of section 105 of the Petroleum Marketing

20 Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2805(a), (b), and (d)) are

21 amended by striking ‘‘102 or 103’’ each place it appears

22 and inserting ‘‘102, 103, or 107’’.

23 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table

24 of contents of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act is
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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section

2 106 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 107. Retail prices.’’.

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