I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 949
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 
FEBRUARY 26, 2003
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TRANSFER OR ASSIGNMENT OF FRANCHISE. 
Section 102 of the Petroleum Marketing Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2802) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) A franchisor of leased marketing premises shall 
not transfer or assign its interests in the franchise during
the term of the franchise unless the franchisor, at least 
45 days before the proposed transfer or assignment, has—
‘‘(1) made a bona fide offer to sell, transfer, or 
assign to the franchisee the franchisor’s interests in 
the leased marketing premises; or 
‘‘(2) if applicable, offered the franchisee a right 
of first refusal of at least 45 days duration of an 
offer, made by another, to purchase or acquire the 
franchisor’s interests in the leased marketing prem-
ises.’’. 
SEC. 2. FEE SHIFTING PROVISIONS. 
Section 105(d) of the Petroleum Marketing Practices 
Act (15 U.S.C. 2805(d)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4)(A) Any provision of a franchise or marketing 
agreement whereby, in the event of litigation under this 
section between the parties, either party to the agreement 
must pay for the prevailing party’s legal fees and expenses 
is null and void and shall not be enforced. 
‘‘(B) This paragraph shall apply to any litigation 
commenced after the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, regardless of when the franchise or marketing 
agreement was entered into. 
‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘legal 
fees and expenses’ includes attorney fees, expert witness
fees, electronic research expenses, copying expenses, para-
legal expenses, courier and messenger expenses, travel ex-
penses, deposition expenses, postage and shipping ex-
penses, overtime expenses, telephone and facsimile ex-
penses, court services expenses, document services ex-
penses, litigation support expenses, and consultant ex-
penses.’’.
SEC. 3. RETAIL PRICE SETTING. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Title I of the Petroleum Mar-
keting Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘RETAIL PRICES 
‘‘SEC. 107. It shall be a violation of this title for a 
refiner or distributor to fix or maintain the retail price 
of motor fuel at a retail outlet supplied by that refiner 
or distributor. This section shall not apply to retail outlets 
operated by the refiner or distributor.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsections (a), 
(b), and (d) of section 105 of the Petroleum Marketing 
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2805(a), (b), and (d)) are 
amended by striking ‘‘102 or 103’’ each place it appears 
and inserting ‘‘102, 103, or 107’’. 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 
of contents of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
106 the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 107. Retail prices.’’.
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