093_HB3838

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning motor fuel pricing.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  1.  Short  title.   This Act may be cited as the
 5    Motor Fuel Fair Marketing Practices Act.

 6        Section 5. Policy. The legislature declares that there is
 7    a need for a neutral guideline on which to base fuel  prices.
 8    Oil  Price  Information Services (OPIS) is a publication that
 9    is used as a benchmark by the world  to  buy  and  sell  U.S.
10    Gasoline  and Diesel. OPIS has no stake in fuel transactions,
11    is not funded by the oil industry initiatives,  and  strictly
12    adheres  to  antitrust  guidelines  determined by independent
13    legal counsel.

14        Section 10. Definitions.
15        (a)  The definitions in the Motor Fuel Tax Law  apply  to
16    this Act.
17        (b)  "Below  cost  sale" means the selling of gasoline or
18    No. 2 low sulfur clear diesel fuel at retail in the State  of
19    Illinois  at  a  price  that  is below the regional Oil Price
20    Information Service average on the previous day for  unleaded
21    regular  gasoline or No. 2 low sulfur clear diesel fuel, plus
22    all applicable taxes, and  $0.04  per  gallon  transportation
23    expense.
24        (c)  "Disaster" has the meaning given in Section 4 of the
25    Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.
26        (d)  "Motor   fuel  price  gouging"  means  the  sale  of
27    gasoline or No. 2 low sulfur clear diesel fuel at  retail  in
28    the  State  of  Illinois  that  is  more  than the applicable
29    regional  Oil  Price  Information  Service  average  on   the
30    previous  day  for  unleaded  regular  gasoline  or No. 2 low
 
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 1    sulfur clear diesel fuel, plus $0.25 per  gallon,  and  $0.04
 2    per gallon transportation expense.
 3        (e)  "Oil  Price  Information  Service"  (OPIS) means the
 4    daily publication containing oil price information that is  a
 5    widely accepted independent fuel price benchmark for supply.

 6        Section 15. Motor fuel price gouging.
 7        (a)  It  is  a  violation  of this Act to engage in motor
 8    fuel price  gouging  in  response  to  the  occurrence  of  a
 9    disaster.  Each sale constitutes a separate violation.
10        (b)  Motor  fuel  price  gouging that occurs within the 7
11    days following the occurrence of  a  disaster  is  rebuttably
12    presumed  to  have  been in response to the occurrence of the
13    disaster.

14        Section 20. Violation of Robinson-Patman Act.   Violation
15    of  any  provision  of  the  federal  Robinson-Patman Act (15
16    U.S.C. 13 et seq.) with respect to the retail sale  of  motor
17    fuel in Illinois constitutes a violation of this Act.

18        Section  25.  Sale below cost.  It is a violation of this
19    Act to sell motor fuel below cost, where  the  effect  is  to
20    injure  or  lessen  competition,  except  in  response to the
21    equally low prices of a competitor.
22        Each sale constitutes a separate violation.

23        Sec. 30.  Violations.
24        (a)  If the Attorney General determines that a  violation
25    of  this Section has occurred or is about to occur, he or she
26    may  bring  an  action  in  circuit  court  for   appropriate
27    injunctive  relief  and  a  civil penalty of up to $1,000 per
28    actual violation.  The court may award  attorney's  fees  and
29    costs to the prevailing party.
30        (b)  Civil  penalties  collected  by the Attorney General
 
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 1    under this Act shall be deposited into the Attorney General's
 2    State Project and Court Order Distribution Fund.
 3        (c)  Any person who is harmed  by  a  violation  of  this
 4    Section,  or  the Attorney General on behalf of such persons,
 5    may bring an action in circuit court to recover  the  damages
 6    sustained.   Upon  finding  a  violation of this Section, the
 7    court may award appropriate  relief,  including  restitution,
 8    injunctive  relief,  court  costs,  and reasonable attorney's
 9    fees.

10        Section 35.  Powers and duties.  The Attorney General has
11    the following powers and duties:
12             (1)  to investigate complaints regarding  violations
13        of this Act;
14             (2)  to seek injunctive relief as appropriate;
15             (3)  to  seek  restitution for victims of motor fuel
16        price gouging and other violations of this Act; and
17             (4)  to institute  an  action  to  collect  a  civil
18        penalty for a violation of this Act.

19        Section 40.  Confidentiality.
20        (a)  Information  obtained by the Attorney General in the
21    course  of  an  investigation  under  this   Act,   including
22    information  from  a person who responds to the investigation
23    and designates  the  information  as  confidential,  must  be
24    maintained   as   confidential  until  the  investigation  is
25    completed by the Attorney General and a course of  action  is
26    determined.   The  Attorney General may not make known in any
27    manner  information   obtained   in   the   course   of   the
28    investigation  to  persons  other  that  those  specified  in
29    subsection  (c)  of  this Section.  Once the investigation is
30    completed, if there is a settlement or if charges are  filed,
31    the information becomes public.
32        (b)  This   Section   does   not   prohibit  the  use  of
 
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 1    confidential  information  to  prepare  statistics  or  other
 2    general data for publication, if the information is presented
 3    in  a  manner  that  prevents  identification  of  particular
 4    persons or locations under investigation.
 5        (c)  For purposes of  this  Section,  references  to  the
 6    Attorney  General  include  other  individuals  designated in
 7    writing and acting on behalf of the Attorney  General  during
 8    the investigation.  A person so designated shall preserve the
 9    confidentiality  of information as provided for in subsection
10    (a) of this Section.
11        (d)  A  person  who  is  served  with   a   request   for
12    information,  a  subpoena  to  give  testimony  orally  or in
13    writing,  or  to  produce  books,   papers,   correspondence,
14    memoranda,  agreements,  or  other documents or records under
15    this Act may  apply  to  the  circuit  court  for  protection
16    against abuse or hardship.

17        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect July
18    1, 2004.