2023 New York Laws › GBS - General Business › Article 26 - Miscellaneous › 399-EE - Zone Pricing of Gasoline Prohibited.

§  399-ee.  Zone  pricing  of  gasoline prohibited. 1. As used in this
section:
(a) "Affiliate" means any  person  whose  stock  is  more  than  fifty
percent owned by or who, regardless of stock ownership, is controlled by
or is under common control with any other person.
(b) "Competition" means the vying for motor fuel sales between any two
or more sellers in the same relevant geographic market.
(c) "Dealer" means any person, other than a refiner or wholesaler, who
is engaged in the business of selling motor fuel at a retail outlet.
(d)  "Motor  fuel"  means any petroleum product, including any special
fuel which is used for the propulsion of any motor vehicle.
(e) "Posted terminal price"  means  a  refiner's  posted  price  at  a
terminal,  by grade and quality of motor fuel, to the wholesale class of
trade within a general trade area. If a refiner does not have  a  posted
terminal  price  in a general trade area, such refiner's posted terminal
price shall be deemed to be no lower than  the  lowest  posted  terminal
price  of  motor  fuel  of  like  grade and quality of any other refiner
selling to the wholesale class of trade in the general trade area.
(f) "Refiner" means any person who produces and  stores  or  exchanges
motor  fuel at a terminal facility and who sells or transfers motor fuel
through the loading rack at such  terminal  facility,  and  includes  an
affiliate of such refiner with respect to such affiliate's sale of motor
fuel.
(g)   "Relevant  geographic  market"  means  the  geographic  area  of
effective competition.
(h) "Retail outlet" means a facility, including land and improvements,
where motor fuel is offered for sale at retail to the public.
(i) "Sale" or "sell" means any retail transfer,  gift,  barter,  sale,
offer  for sale, or advertisement for sale in any manner or by any means
whatsoever.
(j) "Supplier" means any person who conveys, transports, or  otherwise
causes  motor  fuel  to  be delivered to another person, except that any
person who conveys, transports, or otherwise causes  motor  fuel  to  be
delivered as part of a retail sale shall not be considered a supplier.
(k)  "Terminal  facility"  means  any  inland, waterfront, or offshore
appurtenance on  land  used  for  the  purpose  of  receiving,  storing,
handling,  or transferring motor fuel, but does not include bulk storage
facilities owned or operated by a wholesaler.
(l) "Wholesaler" means any person, other than a refiner or dealer, who
purchases motor fuel at a terminal facility and supplies motor  fuel  to
retail outlets.
(m)  "Zone  pricing"  means the arbitrary price differences within the
relevant geographic market, based on the posted terminal price or  where
the effect is to injure competition.
2.  No  wholesaler  shall  engage  in zone pricing with respect to any
motor fuel of like grade or quality.
3. In addition to any other remedies provided by law,  whenever  there
shall  be  a  violation  of this section, application may be made by the
attorney general in the name of the people of the state of New York to a
court or justice having jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an
injunction, and, upon notice to the defendant  of  not  less  than  five
days,  to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violations; and if
it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court  or  justice  that  the
defendant  has,  in  fact,  violated  this section, an injunction may be
issued by such court or justice, enjoining or  restraining  any  further
violation,  without  requiring  proof that any person has, in fact, been
injured or damaged thereby. In any such proceedings, the court may  make
allowances  to  the  attorney  general  as  provided in paragraph six of

subdivision (a) of section  eighty-three  hundred  three  of  the  civil
practice law and rules, and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall
determine  that  a violation of this section has occurred, the court may
impose  a  civil  penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars for each
violation.  In  connection  with  any  such  proposed  application,  the
attorney general is authorized to take proof and make a determination of
the  relevant  facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil
practice law and rules.