Transportation Fuel Market Transparency Act

Bill: 117-s-4217
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
Introduced: 2022-05-12
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources

Aviation and airports

Civil actions and liability

Competition and antitrust

Consumer affairs

Energy prices

Executive agency funding and structure

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Government information and archives

Lighting, heating, cooling

Motor fuels

Oil and gas
Latest action: action_date: 2022-06-22
text: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-05-12
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Transportation Fuel Market Transparency Act</strong></p> <p>This bill expands prohibitions against manipulating fuel markets, establishes a body within the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to monitor fuel markets to ensure competitiveness, and addresses related issues.</p> <p>Prohibitions against the manipulation of wholesale fuel markets or reporting false (or misleading) information shall apply to actions related to crude oil and transportation fuel, defined in this bill to include gasoline, distillate fuels, jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel. Currently, such prohibitions only apply to crude oil, gasoline, and petroleum distillates. </p> <p>The bill further expands the prohibition on reporting false information to include such information that (1) concerns the supply of, operational actions related to, or output related to wholesale fuel markets; (2) is not required to be reported by law; or (3) affects the analyses or data compiled by a private sector price-reporting agency. </p> <p>The bill also increases the maximum civil penalty for violating these prohibitions from $1 million to $2 million for each day of the violation.</p> <p>Furthermore, the bill establishes within the FTC the Transportation Fuel Monitoring and Enforcement Unit. The unit must continuously and comprehensively collect and analyze fuel market data to support competitive market practices, identify market manipulation and other unfair methods of competition, and facilitate enforcement of competition-related statutes. </p> <p>The Energy Information Administration within the Department of Energy must collect data to facilitate transparent and competitive transportation fuel markets, determine adherence to sanctions, and protect consumers.</p>

tv_txt: II 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4217 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 12, 2022 Ms. Cantwell (for herself, Mr. Wyden , and Mrs. Feinstein ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To ensure transparent and competitive transportation fuel markets in order to protect consumers from unwarranted price increases.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Transportation Fuel Market Transparency Act . 2. Amendments to the prohibitions on market manipulation and false information provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (a) Application to transportation fuel Subtitle B of title VIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 ( 42 U.S.C. 17301 et seq. ) is amended— (1) in section 811, by striking gasoline or petroleum distillates and inserting or transportation fuel ; (2) in section 812— (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking gasoline or petroleum distillates and inserting or transportation fuel ; and (B) in paragraph (3), by striking , gasoline, or petroleum distillates and inserting or transportation fuel ; and (3) by adding at the end the following new section: 816. Definition of transportation fuel In this subtitle, the term transportation fuel includes gasoline, distillate fuels (including heating oil), jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel (including ethanol, biomass-based diesel and distillates, and renewable blending components). . (b) Prohibition on false information Section 812 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 ( 42 U.S.C. 17302 ) is amended— (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— (A) by striking wholesale and inserting supply of, operational actions related to, output related to, or wholesale ; and (B) by striking to a Federal department or agency ; (2) in paragraph (1), by adding and at the end; (3) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating paragraph (3), as amended by subsection (a), as paragraph (2); and (4) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, by striking the person intended the false or misleading data to affect data compiled by the department or agency and inserting the false or misleading information reported by the person affected analyses or data compiled by a Federal department or agency or a private sector price-reporting agency . (c) Enforcement Section 813(a) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 ( 42 U.S.C. 17303(a) ) is amended by striking This subtitle and inserting Except as otherwise provided in section 814, this subtitle . (d) Penalties Section 814 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 ( 42 U.S.C. 17304 ) is amended— (1) in subsection (a), by striking $1,000,000 and inserting $2,000,000 ; and (2) in subsection (b), by striking section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 45 ) and inserting section 5(m)(1)(A) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A) ) . 3. Transportation fuel monitoring and enforcement within the Federal Trade Commission (a) Establishment of the transportation fuel monitoring and enforcement unit (1) In general The Commission shall establish within the Commission the Transportation Fuel Monitoring and Enforcement Unit (in this section referred to as the Unit ). (2) Duties of the unit (A) Primary responsibility The primary responsibility of the Unit shall be to assist the Commission in protecting the public interest by continuously and comprehensively collecting, monitoring, and analyzing crude oil and transportation fuel market data in order to— (i) support transparent and competitive market practices; (ii) identify any market manipulation, reporting of false information, use of market power to disadvantage consumers, or other unfair method of competition; and (iii) facilitate enforcement of penalties against persons in violation of relevant statutory prohibitions. (B) Specific duties In order to carry out the responsibility under subparagraph (A), the Unit shall assist the Commission in carrying out the following duties: (i) Receiving, compiling, and analyzing relevant buying and selling activity in order to identify and investigate anomalous market trends and suspicious behavior. (ii) Determining whether excessive concentration or exclusive control of energy-related infrastructure may allow or result in anti-competitive behaviors. (iii) Gathering evidence of wrongdoing against any person in violation of the statutory prohibitions on market manipulation and false information established in, and consistent with, subtitle B of title VIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, as amended by section 2, or any other applicable provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 45 et seq. ). (iv) Obtaining a data-sharing agreement with the Energy Information Administration that includes the data collected in accordance with section 205(n) of the Department of Energy Organization Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7135 ), as amended by section 4. (v) Obtaining data-sharing agreements with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and as necessary and practicable, State energy offices or commissions, and relevant public and private data sources that will allow the Commission to receive and archive information on— (I) crude oil and transportation fuel buying and selling activity; (II) individual physical and financial market positions of market participants regarding crude oil and transportation fuel; (III) refinery output, capacity, and inventory levels of crude oil and transportation fuel; (IV) imports and exports of crude oil and transportation fuel within regions and at levels that could impact prices faced by consumers; (V) public announcements by energy companies of planned pricing or output decisions regarding crude oil and transportation fuel; and (VI) other relevant market information that will facilitate the gathering of evidence described in clause (iii), including sufficient market information necessary to monitor for cross-market manipulations that may include multiple financial and physical market positions. (vi) Any other information determined appropriate by the Commission to carry out the responsibility under subparagraph (A). (b) Definitions In this section: (1) Commission Other than in subsection (a)(2)(B)(v), the term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission. (2) Transportation fuel The term transportation fuel includes gasoline, distillate fuels (including heating oil), jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel (including ethanol, biomass-based diesel and distillates, and renewable blending components). (c) Regulations Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate regulations to carry out this section. (d) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2027 to carry out this section. 4. Transportation fuel market transparency Section 205 of the Department of Energy Organization Act ( 42 U.S.C. 7135 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (n) Transportation fuel market transparency (1) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Energy company The term energy company means a person (as defined in section 11(e) of the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act of 1974 ( 15 U.S.C. 796(e) )) that— (i) owns or controls commercial amounts of crude oil or transportation fuel; or (ii) is engaged in— (I) exploration for, or development of, crude oil; (II) extraction of crude oil; (III) refining or otherwise processing crude oil or transportation fuel; (IV) commercial storage of crude oil or transportation fuel; (V) transportation by any means of commercial amounts of crude oil or transportation fuel; or (VI) wholesale or retail distribution of crude oil or transportation fuel. (B) Transportation fuel The term transportation fuel means— (i) gasoline; (ii) distillate fuels, including heating oil; (iii) jet fuel; (iv) aviation gasoline; and (v) biofuel, including ethanol, biomass-based diesel and distillates, and renewable blending components. (2) Purpose The purpose of this subsection is to collect data necessary to facilitate transparent and competitive transportation fuel markets, determine adherence to relevant international sanctions, and protect consumers. (3) Surveys (A) In general The Administrator shall conduct surveys of energy companies to collect detailed and timely information on United States crude oil and transportation fuel markets. (B) Exemption The Administrator shall exempt an energy company from participating in the surveys conducted under subparagraph (A) if the energy company has a de minimis market presence or impact, as determined by the Administrator. (4) Data collected (A) In general The surveys conducted under paragraph (3) shall collect information on a national, regional, State, and energy company basis. (B) Information The surveys conducted under paragraph (3) shall collect the following information with respect to crude oil and transportation fuel, as applicable: (i) The quantity of crude oil and transportation fuel imported and exported. (ii) The quantity of crude oil and transportation fuel refined, stored, and transported. (iii) The quantity of crude oil and transportation fuel entering final retail and commercial commerce. (iv) The quantity of crude oil and transportation fuel purchased and sold at any upstream point between energy companies, including off-exchange bilateral sales and sales between subsidiaries of the same energy company. (v) Market price data for the transactions described in clauses (i) through (iv). (vi) Submissions to relevant price reporting entities. (vii) Any other such data, analyses, or evaluations that the Administrator determines is necessary to achieve the purpose described in paragraph (2). (C) Origin of fuel In obtaining the information described in subparagraph (B), the Administrator shall, to the maximum extent practicable, track and publish the country of original production of crude oil and transportation fuel that may have been resold, refined, blended, stored, or otherwise been exchanged or sold before being imported or exported into the United States. (D) Other sources The Administrator may, when practicable and determined reliable by the Administrator, obtain information described in subparagraph (B) from private price publishers and providers of trade processing services. (5) Minimizing reporting burdens The Administrator shall seek to minimize any burdens on energy companies in reporting information to the Administrator, including by automating data submission practices for data collected under the surveys conducted under paragraph (3). (6) Public distribution (A) In general To the maximum extent practicable, subject to this paragraph, the Administrator shall consistently and promptly make publicly available analyses of the results of the data collected pursuant to this subsection in a form and manner easily adaptable for public use and machine analysis. (B) Geographical specificity Analyses published under subparagraph (A)— (i) shall be geographically specific enough to provide meaningful differentiation between fuel markets; and (ii) shall not organize geographical data in the form of Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts or other geographic aggregations lacking sufficient resolution to ascertain regionally specific market trends or disparities. (C) Nondisclosure Any analysis published under subparagraph (A) shall not disclose matters exempted from mandatory disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. (7) Data-sharing agreements (A) Federal Trade Commission Notwithstanding subchapter III of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018 ), not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall enter into a data-sharing agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that shall allow any information collected pursuant to this subsection to be requested by and transferred to the Federal Trade Commission without limitation or delay. (B) Other Federal agencies The Administrator may enter into data-sharing agreements with other Federal agencies that have energy-related policy decision-making responsibilities, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. . (9) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this section such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2027. .