the Federal Trade Commission, or the Attorney 
General to the extent provided for in section 5 of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act, shall have any au-
thority to enforce this section, or any rule prescribed 
pursuant to this section. 
(d) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates subsection 
(a), or the rules promulgated pursuant to this section, 
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $11,000 
per violation. 
(e) DEFINITION OF MAJOR DISASTER.—
(1) DETERMINATION.—As used in this section, 
and for purposes of any rule promulgated pursuant 
to this section, the term ‘‘major disaster’’ means a 
major disaster declared by the President as defined 
in section 102(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C 
5122(2)) that the Secretary of Energy determines to 
have substantially disrupted the production, distribu-
tion, or supply of crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, or 
home heating oil. 
(2) APPLICABLE AREA AND PERIOD.—The pro-
hibition in subsection (a) shall apply to the United 
States or to a specific geographic region of the 
United States as determined by the President and 
the Secretary of Energy at the time in which a de-
termination under paragraph (1) is made, and for a 
period of 30 days after such determination is made. 
The President may extend the prohibition for such 
additional 30-day periods as the President deter-
mines necessary. 
SEC. 403. FTC INVESTIGATION ON PRICE-GOUGING. 
(a) STUDY.—The Federal Trade Commission shall 
conduct an investigation into nationwide gasoline prices 
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including any evi-
dence of price-gouging by subject companies described in 
subsection (b). Such investigation shall include—
(1) a comparison of, and analysis of the reasons 
for changes in, profit levels of subject companies 
during the 12-month period ending on August 31, 
2005, and their profit levels for the month of Sep-
tember, 2005, including information for particular 
companies on a basis that does not permit the iden-
tification of any company to which the information 
relates; 
(2) a summary of tax expenditures (as defined 
in section 3(3) of the Congressional Budget and Im-
poundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622(3)) 
for such companies;
(3) an examination of the effects of increased 
gasoline prices and gasoline price-gouging on eco-
nomic activity in the United States; 
(4) an analysis of the overall cost of increased 
gasoline prices and gasoline price-gouging to the 
economy, including the impact on consumers’ pur-
chasing power in both declared State and National 
disaster areas and elsewhere; and 
(5) an analysis of the role and overall cost of 
credit card interchange rates on gasoline and diesel 
fuel retail prices. 
(b) SUBJECT COMPANIES.—The companies subject to 
the investigation required by this section shall be—
(1) any company with total United States 
wholesale sales of gasoline and petroleum distillates 
for calendar year 2004 in excess of $500,000,000; 
and 
(2) any retail distributor of gasoline and petro-
leum distillates against which multiple formal com-
plaints (that identify the location of the particular 
retail distributor and provide contact information for 
the complainant) of price-gouging were filed in Au-
gust or September 2005, with a Federal or State 
consumer protection agency.
(c) EVIDENCE OF PRICE-GOUGING.—In conducting 
its investigation, the Commission shall treat as evidence 
of price-gouging any finding that the average price of gas-
oline available for sale to the public in September, 2005, 
or thereafter in a market area located in an area des-
ignated as a State or National disaster area because of 
Hurricane Katrina, or in any other area where price-
gouging complaints have been filed because of Hurricane 
Katrina with a Federal or State consumer protection 
agency, exceeded the average price of such gasoline in that 
area for the month of August, 2005, unless the Commis-
sion finds substantial evidence that the increase is sub-
stantially attributable to additional costs in connection 
with the production, transportation, delivery, and sale of 
gasoline in that area or to national or international market 
trends. 
(d) REPORTS.—
(1) NOTIFICATION
TO
STATE
AGENCIES.—In 
any areas of markets in which the Commission de-
termines price increases are due to factors other 
than the additional costs, it shall also notify the ap-
propriate State agency of its findings. 
(2) PROGRESS AND FINAL REPORTS TO CON-
GRESS.—The Commission shall provide information 
on the progress of the investigation to the Appro-