IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1252 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and 

other fuels, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Price Gouging 

3 Prevention Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING OF GASOLINE AND 

5 OTHER PETROLEUM DISTILLATES DURING 

6 EMERGENCIES. 

7 (a) UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

9 person to sell, at wholesale or at retail in an area 

10 and during a period of an energy emergency, gaso11 line or any other petroleum distillate covered by a 

12 proclamation issued under paragraph (2) at a price 

13 that— 

14 (A) is unconscionably excessive; and 

15 (B) indicates the seller is taking unfair ad16 vantage of the circumstances related to an en17 ergy emergency to increase prices unreasonably. 

18 (2) ENERGY EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

20 issue an energy emergency proclamation for any 

21 area within the jurisdiction of the United 

22 States, during which the prohibition in para23 graph (1) shall apply. The proclamation shall 

24 state the geographic area covered, the gasoline 

25 or other petroleum distillate covered, and the 


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1 time period that such proclamation shall be in 

2 effect. 

3 (B) DURATION.—The proclamation— 

4 (i) may not apply for a period of more 

5 than 30 consecutive days, but may be re6 newed for such consecutive periods, each 

7 not to exceed 30 days, as the President de8 termines appropriate; and 

9 (ii) may include a period of time not 

10 to exceed 1 week preceding a reasonably 

11 foreseeable emergency. 

12 (3) FACTORS CONSIDERED.—In determining 

13 whether a person has violated paragraph (1), there 

14 shall be taken into account, among other factors— 

15 (A) whether the amount charged by such 

16 person for the applicable gasoline or other pe17 troleum distillate at a particular location in an 

18 area covered by a proclamation issued under 

19 paragraph (2) during the period such proclama20 tion is in effect— 

21 (i) grossly exceeds the average price 

22 at which the applicable gasoline or other 

23 petroleum distillate was offered for sale by 

24 that person during the 30 days prior to 

25 such proclamation; 


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1 (ii) grossly exceeds the price at which 

2 the same or similar gasoline or other pe3 troleum distillate was readily obtainable in 

4 the same area from other competing sellers 

5 during the same period; 

6 (iii) reasonably reflected additional 

7 costs, not within the control of that person, 

8 that were paid, incurred, or reasonably an9 ticipated by that person, or reflected addi10 tional risks taken by that person to 

11 produce, distribute, obtain, or sell such 

12 product under the circumstances; and 

13 (iv) was substantially attributable to 

14 local, regional, national, or international 

15 market conditions; and 

16 (B) whether the quantity of gasoline or 

17 other petroleum distillate the person produced, 

18 distributed, or sold in an area covered by a 

19 proclamation issued under paragraph (2) dur20 ing a 30-day period following the issuance of 

21 such proclamation increased over the quantity 

22 that that person produced, distributed, or sold 

23 during the 30 days prior to such proclamation, 

24 taking into account usual seasonal demand vari25 ations. 


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1 (b) FALSE PRICING INFORMATION.—It shall be un2 lawful for any person to report to a Federal agency infor3 mation related to the wholesale price of gasoline or other 

4 petroleum distillates with actual knowledge or knowledge 

5 fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances that 

6 such information is false or misleading. 

7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘wholesale’’, with respect to sales 

9 of gasoline or other petroleum distillates, means ei10 ther truckload or smaller sales of gasoline or petro11 leum distillates where title transfers at a product 

12 terminal or a refinery, and dealer tank wagon sales 

13 of gasoline or petroleum distillates priced on a deliv14 ered basis to retail outlets; and 

15 (2) the term ‘‘retail’’, with respect to sales of 

16 gasoline or other petroleum distillates, includes all 

17 sales to end users such as motorists as well as all 

18 direct sales to other end users such as agriculture, 

19 industry, residential, and commercial consumers. 

20 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—As described in this section, a 

21 sale of gasoline or other petroleum distillate does not in22 clude a transaction on a futures market. 


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1 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS2 SION. 

3 (a) ENFORCEMENT BY FTC.—A violation of section 

4 2 shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an un5 fair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 

6 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade Commission 

8 shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same 

9 means, and with the same jurisdiction as though all appli10 cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commis11 sion Act were incorporated into and made a part of this 

12 Act. In enforcing section 2(a) of this Act, the Commission 

13 shall give priority to enforcement actions concerning com14 panies with total United States wholesale or retail sales 

15 of gasoline and other petroleum distillates in excess of 

16 $500,000,000 per year. 

17 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the pen19 alties set forth under the Federal Trade Commission 

20 Act, any person who violates this Act with actual 

21 knowledge or knowledge fairly implied on the basis 

22 of objective circumstances shall be subject to the fol23 lowing penalties: 

24 (A) PRICE GOUGING; UNJUST PROFITS.— 

25 Any person who violates section 2(a) shall be 

26 subject to— 


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1 (i) a fine of not more than 3 times the 

2 amount of profits gained by such person 

3 through such violation; or 

4 (ii) a fine of not more than 

5 $3,000,000. 

6 (B) FALSE INFORMATION.—Any person 

7 who violates section 2(b) shall be subject to a 

8 civil penalty of not more than $1,000,000. 

9 (2) METHOD.—The penalties provided by para10 graph (1) shall be obtained in the same manner as 

11 civil penalties obtained under section 5 of the Fed12 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45). 

13 (3) MULTIPLE OFFENSES; MITIGATING FAC14 TORS.—In assessing the penalty provided by sub15 section (a)— 

16 (A) each day of a continuing violation shall 

17 be considered a separate violation; and 

18 (B) the court shall take into consideration, 

19 among other factors, the seriousness of the vio20 lation and the efforts of the person committing 

21 the violation to remedy the harm caused by the 

22 violation in a timely manner. 


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1 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any penalty appli3 cable under section 3, any person who violates section 2 

4 shall be fined under title 18, United States Code— 

5 (1) if a corporation, not to exceed 

6 $150,000,000; and 

7 (2) if an individual not to exceed $2,000,000, 

8 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both. 

9 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The criminal penalty provided 

10 by subsection (a) may be imposed only pursuant to a 

11 criminal action brought by the Attorney General or other 

12 officer of the Department of Justice. 

13 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT AT RETAIL LEVEL BY STATE ATTOR14 NEYS GENERAL. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State, as parens patriae, may 

16 bring a civil action on behalf of its residents in an appro17 priate district court of the United States to enforce the 

18 provisions of section 2(a) of this Act, or to impose the 

19 civil penalties authorized by section 3(b)(1)(B), whenever 

20 the attorney general of the State has reason to believe that 

21 the interests of the residents of the State have been or 

22 are being threatened or adversely affected by a violation 

23 of this Act or a regulation under this Act, involving a re24 tail sale. 

25 (b) NOTICE.—The State shall serve written notice to 

26 the Federal Trade Commission of any civil action under 


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1 subsection (a) prior to initiating such civil action. The no2 tice shall include a copy of the complaint to be filed to 

3 initiate such civil action, except that if it is not feasible 

4 for the State to provide such prior notice, the State shall 

5 provide such notice immediately upon instituting such civil 

6 action. 

7 (c) AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE.—Upon receiving the 

8 notice required by subsection (b), the Federal Trade Com9 mission may intervene in such civil action and upon inter10 vening— 

11 (1) be heard on all matters arising in such civil 

12 action; and 

13 (2) file petitions for appeal of a decision in such 

14 civil action. 

15 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing any 

16 civil action under subsection (a), nothing in this section 

17 shall prevent the attorney general of a State from exer18 cising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the 

19 laws of such State to conduct investigations or to admin20 ister oaths or affirmations or to compel the attendance 

21 of witnesses or the production of documentary and other 

22 evidence. 

23 (e) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In a civil action 

24 brought under subsection (a)— 


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1 (1) the venue shall be a judicial district in 

2 which— 

3 (A) the defendant operates; 

4 (B) the defendant was authorized to do 

5 business; or 

6 (C) the defendant in the civil action is 

7 found; 

8 (2) process may be served without regard to the 

9 territorial limits of the district or of the State in 

10 which the civil action is instituted; and 

11 (3) a person who participated with the defend12 ant in an alleged violation that is being litigated in 

13 the civil action may be joined in the civil action with14 out regard to the residence of the person. 

15 (f) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FEDERAL

16 ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Federal Trade Commission 

17 has instituted a civil action or an administrative action 

18 for violation of this Act, no State attorney general, or offi19 cial or agency of a State, may bring an action under this 

20 subsection during the pendency of that action against any 

21 defendant named in the complaint of the Federal Trade 

22 Commission or the other agency for any violation of this 

23 Act alleged in the complaint. 

24 (g) ENFORCEMENT OF STATE LAW.—Nothing con25 tained in this section shall prohibit an authorized State 


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1 official from proceeding in State court to enforce a civil 

2 or criminal statute of such State. 

3 SEC. 6. LOW INCOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE. 

4 Amounts collected in fines and penalties under sec5 tion 3 of this Act shall be deposited in a separate fund 

6 in the treasury to be known as the Consumer Relief Trust 

7 Fund. To the extent provided for in advance in appropria8 tions Acts, the fund shall be used to provide assistance 

9 under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program 

10 administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv11 ices. 

12 SEC. 7. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

13 (a) OTHER AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL TRADE COM14 MISSION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit 

15 or affect in any way the Federal Trade Commission’s au16 thority to bring enforcement actions or take any other 

17 measure under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) or any other provision of law. 

19 (b) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this Act preempts any 

20 State law. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 23, 2007. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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