093_HB3838
LRB093 12907 RLC 18116 b
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.