II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1362 

To establish a Strategic Gasoline and Fuel Reserve. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2007 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a Strategic Gasoline and Fuel 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 ‘‘Strategic Gasoline and 

5 Fuel Reserve Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STRATEGIC GASOLINE AND FUEL RESERVE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Energy Policy and 

8 Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART E—STRATEGIC GASOLINE AND FUEL 

2 RESERVE 

3 ‘‘SEC. 191. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this part: 

5 ‘‘(1) GASOLINE.—The term ‘gasoline’ means 

6 regular unleaded gasoline. 

7 ‘‘(2) RESERVE.—The term ‘Reserve’ means the 

8 Strategic Gasoline and Fuel Reserve established 

9 under section 192(a). 

10 ‘‘SEC. 192. ESTABLISHMENT. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro12 vision of this Act, the Secretary shall establish, maintain, 

13 and operate a Strategic Gasoline and Fuel Reserve. 

14 ‘‘(b) NOT COMPONENT OF STRATEGIC PETROLEUM

15 RESERVE.—The Reserve is not a component of the Stra16 tegic Petroleum Reserve established under part B. 

17 ‘‘(c) CAPACITY.—The Reserve shall contain not more 

18 than— 

19 ‘‘(1) 45,000,000 barrels of gasoline; 

20 ‘‘(2) 7,500,000 barrels of jet fuel; and 

21 ‘‘(3) 21,000,000 barrels of diesel fuel. 

22 ‘‘(d) RESERVE SITES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) SITING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

25 determine not less than 3 Reserve sites, and not 


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1 more than 5 Reserve sites, throughout the United 

2 States that are regionally strategic. 

3 ‘‘(2) OPERATION.—The Reserve sites described 

4 in paragraph (1) shall be operational not later than 

5 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 ‘‘(e) SECURITY.—In establishing the Reserve under 

7 this section, the Secretary shall obtain the concurrence of 

8 the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to phys9 ical design security and operational security. 

10 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY.—In carrying out this part, the Sec11 retary may— 

12 ‘‘(1) purchase, contract for, lease, or otherwise 

13 acquire, in whole or in part, storage and related fa14 cilities and storage services; 

15 ‘‘(2) use, lease, maintain, sell, or otherwise dis16 pose of storage and related facilities acquired under 

17 this part; 

18 ‘‘(3) acquire by purchase, exchange, lease, or 

19 other means gasoline and fuel for storage in the Re20 serve; 

21 ‘‘(4) store gasoline and fuel in facilities not 

22 owned by the United States; and 

23 ‘‘(5) sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of gas24 oline and fuel from the Reserve, including to main25 tain— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the quality or quantity of the gasoline 

2 or fuel in the Reserve; or 

3 ‘‘(B) the operational capacity of the Re4 serve. 

5 ‘‘(g) FILL DATE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), the Secretary shall complete the process 

8 of filling the Reserve under this section by March 1, 

9 2008. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXTENSIONS.—The President may extend 

11 the deadline established under paragraph (1) if— 

12 ‘‘(A) the President determines that filling 

13 the Reserve within that deadline would cause an 

14 undue economic burden on the United States; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) the President receives approval from 

17 Congress. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 193. RELEASE OF GASOLINE AND FUEL. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall release gaso20 line or fuel from the Reserve only if— 

21 ‘‘(1) the President finds that there is a severe 

22 fuel supply disruption by finding that— 

23 ‘‘(A) a regional or national supply shortage 

24 of gasoline or fuel of significant scope and du25 ration has occurred; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a substantial increase in the price of 

2 gasoline or fuel has resulted from the shortage; 

3 ‘‘(C) the price increase is likely to cause a 

4 significant adverse impact on the national econ5 omy; and 

6 ‘‘(D) releasing gasoline or fuel from the 

7 Reserve would assist directly and significantly 

8 in reducing the adverse impact of the shortage; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) the Governor of a State submits to the 

11 Secretary a written request for a release from the 

12 Reserve that contains a finding that— 

13 ‘‘(i) a regional or statewide supply short14 age of gasoline or fuel of significant scope and 

15 duration has occurred; 

16 ‘‘(ii) a substantial increase in the price of 

17 gasoline or fuel has resulted from the shortage; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iii) the price increase is likely to cause a 

20 significant adverse impact on the economy of 

21 the State; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the Secretary concurs with the findings of 

23 the Governor under subparagraph (A) and deter24 mines that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a release from the Reserve would miti2 gate gasoline or fuel price volatility in the 

3 State; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a release from the Reserve would not 

5 have an adverse effect on the long-term eco6 nomic viability of retail gasoline or fuel markets 

7 in the State and adjacent States; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) a release from the Reserve would not 

9 suppress prices below long-term market trend 

10 levels. 

11 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) RESPONSE OF SECRETARY.—The Sec13 retary shall respond to a request submitted under 

14 subsection (a)(2) not later than 5 days after receipt 

15 of the request by— 

16 ‘‘(A) approving the request; 

17 ‘‘(B) denying the request; or 

18 ‘‘(C) requesting additional supporting in19 formation. 

20 ‘‘(2) RELEASE.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 procedures governing the release of gasoline or fuel 

22 from the Reserve in accordance with this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this para25 graph, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity 


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1 that is customarily engaged in the sale or dis2 tribution of gasoline or fuel. 

3 ‘‘(B) SALE OR DISPOSAL FROM RE4 SERVE.—The procedures established under this 

5 subsection shall provide that the Secretary 

6 may— 

7 ‘‘(i) sell gasoline or fuel from the Re8 serve to an eligible entity through a com9 petitive process; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) enter into an exchange agree11 ment with an eligible entity under which 

12 the Secretary receives a greater volume of 

13 gasoline or fuel as repayment from the eli14 gible entity than the volume provided to 

15 the eligible entity. 

16 ‘‘(c) CONTINUING EVALUATION.—The Secretary 

17 shall conduct a continuing evaluation of the drawdown and 

18 sales procedures established under this section. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 194. REPORTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) GASOLINE AND FUEL.—Not later than 45 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

22 shall submit to Congress and the President a plan describ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(1) the acquisition of storage and related fa25 cilities or storage services for the Reserve, including 


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1 the use of storage facilities not currently in use or 

2 not currently used to capacity; 

3 ‘‘(2) the acquisition of gasoline and fuel for 

4 storage in the Reserve; 

5 ‘‘(3) the anticipated methods of disposition of 

6 gasoline and fuel from the Reserve; 

7 ‘‘(4) the estimated costs of establishment, main8 tenance, and operation of the Reserve; 

9 ‘‘(5) efforts that the Department will take to 

10 minimize any potential need for future drawdowns 

11 from the Reserve; and 

12 ‘‘(6) actions to ensure the quality of the gaso13 line and fuel in the Reserve are maintained. 

14 ‘‘(b) NATURAL GAS AND DIESEL.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec16 retary shall submit to Congress a report describing the 

17 feasibility of creating a natural gas and diesel reserve 

18 similar to the Reserve under this part. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 195. STRATEGIC GASOLINE AND FUEL RESERVE 

20 FUND. 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

22 Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, to be 

23 known as the ‘Strategic Gasoline and Fuel Reserve Fund’ 

24 (referred to in this section as the ‘Fund’), consisting of— 


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1 ‘‘(1) such amounts as are appropriated to the 

2 Fund under subsection (b); 

3 ‘‘(2) such amounts as are appropriated to the 

4 Fund under section 196; and 

5 ‘‘(3) any interest earned on investment of 

6 amounts in the Fund under subsection (d). 

7 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—There are appropriated 

8 to the Fund amounts equivalent to amounts collected as 

9 receipts and received in the Treasury from the sale, ex10 change, or other disposition of gasoline or fuel from the 

11 Reserve. 

12 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—On request by 

13 the Secretary and without the need for further appropria14 tion, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer from the 

15 Fund to the Secretary such amounts as the Secretary de16 termines are necessary to carry out activities under this 

17 part, to remain available until expended. 

18 ‘‘(d) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

20 Treasury shall invest such portion of the Fund as is 

21 not, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treas22 ury, required to meet current withdrawals. 

23 ‘‘(2) INTEREST-BEARING OBLIGATIONS.—In24 vestments may be made only in interest-bearing obli25 gations of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ACQUISITION OF OBLIGATIONS.—For the 

2 purpose of investments under paragraph (1), obliga3 tions may be acquired— 

4 ‘‘(A) on original issue at the issue price; or 

5 ‘‘(B) by purchase of outstanding obliga6 tions at the market price. 

7 ‘‘(4) SALE OF OBLIGATIONS.—Any obligation 

8 acquired by the Fund may be sold by the Secretary 

9 of the Treasury at the market price. 

10 ‘‘(5) CREDITS TO FUND.—The interest on, and 

11 the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any ob12 ligations held in the Fund shall be credited to and 

13 form a part of the Fund. 

14 ‘‘(e) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required to 

16 be transferred to the Fund under this section shall 

17 be transferred at least monthly from the general 

18 fund of the Treasury to the Fund on the basis of es19 timates made by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

20 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall 

21 be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the 

22 extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than 

23 the amounts required to be transferred. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 196. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

3 as are necessary to carry out this part, to remain available 

4 until expended.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

6 The table of contents for title I of the Energy Policy 

7 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6201 note) is amended 

8 by striking the matter relating to part D (relating to expi9 ration) inserting the following: 

‘‘PART E—STRATEGIC GASOLINE AND FUEL RESERVE

‘‘Sec. 191. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 192. Establishment. 

‘‘Sec. 193. Release of gasoline and fuel. 

‘‘Sec. 194. Reports. 

‘‘Sec. 195. Strategic Gasoline and Fuel Reserve Fund. 

‘‘Sec. 196. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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