Full Text of HB0553 94th General Assembly
HB0553 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 HB0553
Introduced 1/27/2005, by Rep. William B. Black SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Motor Fuel Fair Marketing Practices Act.
Prohibits price gouging on the retail sale of motor fuel in response to the
occurrence of a disaster.
Provides that a violation of the federal Robinson-Patman Act with respect to
the retail sale of motor fuel constitutes a violation of this Act. Prohibits
the practice of selling motor fuel at retail prices that are below cost,
where the effect is to injure or lessen competition.
Provides for investigation and enforcement by the Attorney General.
Provides for civil penalties for violations.
Effective July 1, 2005.
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A BILL FOR
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HB0553 |
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LRB094 06725 RXD 36824 b |
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| AN ACT concerning business.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Motor | 5 |
| Fuel Fair
Marketing Practices Act.
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| 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 is | 9 |
| used as a benchmark by the world to buy and
sell U.S. Gasoline | 10 |
| and Diesel. OPIS has no stake in fuel transactions, is not
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| funded by the oil industry initiatives, and strictly adheres to | 12 |
| antitrust
guidelines determined by independent legal counsel.
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| Section 10. Definitions.
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| (a) The definitions in the Motor Fuel Tax Law apply to this | 15 |
| Act.
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| (b) "Below cost sale" means the selling of gasoline or No. | 17 |
| 2 low sulfur
clear diesel fuel at retail in the State of | 18 |
| Illinois at a price that is
below the regional Oil Price | 19 |
| Information Service average on the previous day
for
unleaded | 20 |
| regular
gasoline or No. 2 low sulfur clear diesel fuel, plus | 21 |
| all applicable taxes, and
$0.04 per gallon transportation | 22 |
| expense.
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| (c) "Disaster" has the meaning given in Section 4 of the | 24 |
| Illinois Emergency
Management Agency Act.
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| (d) "Motor fuel price gouging" means the sale of gasoline | 26 |
| or No. 2 low
sulfur clear
diesel fuel at retail in the State of | 27 |
| Illinois that is more than the applicable
regional Oil Price | 28 |
| Information Service average on the previous day for unleaded
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| regular gasoline or
No. 2 low sulfur clear diesel fuel, plus | 30 |
| $0.25 per gallon, and $0.04 per gallon
transportation expense.
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| (e) "Oil Price Information Service" (OPIS) means the daily |
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| publication
containing oil price information that is
a widely | 2 |
| accepted independent fuel price benchmark for supply.
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| Section 15. Motor fuel price gouging.
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| (a) It is a violation of this Act to engage in motor fuel | 5 |
| price gouging in
response to the occurrence of a disaster. Each | 6 |
| sale constitutes a separate
violation.
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| (b) Motor fuel price gouging that occurs within the 7 days | 8 |
| following the
occurrence of a disaster is rebuttably presumed | 9 |
| to have been in response to
the occurrence of the disaster.
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| Section 20. Violation of Robinson-Patman Act. Violation of | 11 |
| any provision
of the federal Robinson-Patman Act (15 U.S.C. 13 | 12 |
| et seq.) with respect to the
retail sale of motor fuel in | 13 |
| Illinois constitutes a violation of this Act.
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| Section 25. Sale below cost. It is a violation of this Act | 15 |
| to sell motor
fuel below cost, where the
effect is to injure or | 16 |
| lessen competition, except in response to the equally
low | 17 |
| prices of a competitor. Each sale constitutes a separate | 18 |
| violation.
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| Section 30. Violations.
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| (a) If the Attorney General determines that a violation of | 21 |
| this Section
has occurred or is about to occur, he or she may | 22 |
| bring an action in circuit
court for appropriate injunctive | 23 |
| relief and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per
actual | 24 |
| violation. The court may
award attorney's fees and costs to the | 25 |
| prevailing party.
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| (b) Civil penalties collected by the Attorney General under | 27 |
| this Act
shall be deposited into the Attorney General's State | 28 |
| Project and Court Order
Distribution Fund. | 29 |
| (c) Any person who is harmed by a violation of this | 30 |
| Section, or the Attorney
General on behalf of such persons, may | 31 |
| bring an action in circuit court to
recover the damages | 32 |
| sustained. Upon finding a violation of this Section, the
court |
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| may award appropriate relief, including restitution, | 2 |
| injunctive relief,
court costs, and reasonable attorney's | 3 |
| fees.
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| Section 35. Powers and duties. The Attorney General has | 5 |
| the following
powers and duties:
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| (1) to investigate complaints regarding violations of | 7 |
| this Act;
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| (2) to seek injunctive relief as appropriate;
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| (3) to seek restitution for victims of motor fuel price | 10 |
| gouging and other
violations of this Act; and
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| (4) to institute an action to collect a civil penalty | 12 |
| for a violation of
this Act.
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| Section 40. Confidentiality.
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| (a) Information obtained by the Attorney General in the | 15 |
| course of an
investigation under this Act, including | 16 |
| information from a person who
responds to the investigation and | 17 |
| designates the information as confidential,
must be maintained | 18 |
| as confidential until the investigation is completed by the
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| Attorney General and a course of action is determined. The | 20 |
| Attorney General
may not make known in any manner information | 21 |
| obtained in the course of the
investigation to persons other | 22 |
| that those specified in subsection (c) of this
Section. Once | 23 |
| the investigation is completed, if there is a settlement or if
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| charges are filed, the information becomes public.
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| (b) This Section does not prohibit the use of confidential | 26 |
| information to
prepare statistics or other general data for | 27 |
| publication, if the information is
presented in a manner that | 28 |
| prevents identification of particular persons or
locations | 29 |
| under investigation.
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| (c) For purposes of this Section, references to the | 31 |
| Attorney General include
other individuals designated in | 32 |
| writing and acting on behalf of the Attorney
General during the | 33 |
| investigation. A person so designated shall preserve the
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| confidentiality of information as provided for in subsection |
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| (a) of this
Section.
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| (d) A person who is served with a request for information, | 3 |
| a subpoena to
give testimony orally or in writing, or to | 4 |
| produce books, papers,
correspondence, memoranda, agreements, | 5 |
| or other documents or records under this
Act may apply to the | 6 |
| circuit court for protection against abuse or hardship.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 8 |
| 2005. |
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