I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2129 
To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and other fuels, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2009 
Mr. STUPAK (for himself, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 
CARNAHAN, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DOYLE, 
Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HARE, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 
HILL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
MCHUGH, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mr. OBER-
STAR, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SPACE, Ms. 
SUTTON, Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. VIS-
CLOSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and 
other fuels, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Price Gouging 
Prevention Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING OF GASOLINE AND 
OTHER PETROLEUM DISTILLATES DURING 
EMERGENCIES. 
(a) UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 
person to sell, at wholesale or at retail in an area 
and during a period of an energy emergency, gaso-
line or any other petroleum distillate covered by a 
proclamation issued under paragraph (2) at a price 
that— 
(A) is unconscionably excessive; and 
(B) indicates the seller is taking unfair ad-
vantage of the circumstances related to an en-
ergy emergency to increase prices unreasonably. 
(2) ENERGY EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The President may 
issue an energy emergency proclamation for any 
area within the jurisdiction of the United 
States, during which the prohibition in para-
graph (1) shall apply. The proclamation shall 
state the geographic area covered, the gasoline 
or other petroleum distillate covered, and the 
time period that such proclamation shall be in 
effect. 
(B) DURATION.—The proclamation— 
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(i) may not apply for a period of more 
than 30 consecutive days, but may be re-
newed for such consecutive periods, each 
not to exceed 30 days, as the President de-
termines appropriate; and 
(ii) may include a period of time not 
to exceed 1 week preceding a reasonably 
foreseeable emergency. 
(3) FACTORS
CONSIDERED.—In determining 
whether a person has violated paragraph (1), there 
shall be taken into account, among other factors— 
(A) whether the amount charged by such 
person for the applicable gasoline or other pe-
troleum distillate at a particular location in an 
area covered by a proclamation issued under 
paragraph (2) during the period such proclama-
tion is in effect— 
(i) grossly exceeds the average price 
at which the applicable gasoline or other 
petroleum distillate was offered for sale by 
that person during the 30 days prior to 
such proclamation; 
(ii) grossly exceeds the price at which 
the same or similar gasoline or other pe-
troleum distillate was readily obtainable in 
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the same area from other competing sellers 
during the same period; 
(iii) reasonably reflected additional 
costs, not within the control of that person, 
that were paid, incurred, or reasonably an-
ticipated by that person, or reflected addi-
tional risks taken by that person to 
produce, distribute, obtain, or sell such 
product under the circumstances; and 
(iv) was substantially attributable to 
local, regional, national, or international 
market conditions; and 
(B) whether the quantity of gasoline or 
other petroleum distillate the person produced, 
distributed, or sold in an area covered by a 
proclamation issued under paragraph (2) dur-
ing a 30-day period following the issuance of 
such proclamation increased over the quantity 
that that person produced, distributed, or sold 
during the 30 days prior to such proclamation, 
taking into account usual seasonal demand vari-
ations. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘wholesale’’, with respect to sales 
of gasoline or other petroleum distillates, means ei-
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ther truckload or smaller sales of gasoline or petro-
leum distillates where title transfers at a product 
terminal or a refinery, and dealer tank wagon sales 
of gasoline or petroleum distillates priced on a deliv-
ered basis to retail outlets; and 
(2) the term ‘‘retail’’, with respect to sales of 
gasoline or other petroleum distillates, includes all 
sales to end users such as motorists as well as all 
direct sales to other end users such as agriculture, 
industry, residential, and commercial consumers. 
(c) CONSTRUCTION.—As described in this section, a 
sale of gasoline or other petroleum distillate does not in-
clude a transaction on a futures market. 
SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-
SION. 
(a) ENFORCEMENT BY FTC.—A violation of section 
2 shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an un-
fair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade Commission 
shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same 
means, and with the same jurisdiction as though all appli-
cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act were incorporated into and made a part of this 
Act. In enforcing section 2(a) of this Act, the Commission 
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shall give priority to enforcement actions concerning com-
panies with total United States wholesale or retail sales 
of gasoline and other petroleum distillates in excess of 
$500,000,000 per year. 
(b) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the pen-
alties set forth under the Federal Trade Commission 
Act, any person who violates this Act with actual 
knowledge or knowledge fairly implied on the basis 
of objective circumstances shall be subject to the fol-
lowing penalties: 
(A) PRICE GOUGING; UNJUST PROFITS.— 
Any person who violates section 2(a) shall be 
subject to— 
(i) a fine of not more than 3 times the 
amount of profits gained by such person 
through such violation; or 
(ii) 
a 
fine 
of 
not 
more 
than 
$3,000,000. 
(B) FALSE
INFORMATION.—Any person 
who violates section 2(b) shall be subject to a 
civil penalty of not more than $1,000,000. 
(2) METHOD.—The penalties provided by para-
graph (1) shall be obtained in the same manner as 
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