House, No. 209By Antonio F.D. Cabral Joint Committe on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.
Status History AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE WHOLESALE MOTOR FUEL FAIRNESS AND COMPETITION RESTORATION ACT. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: SECTION 1. Chapter 94 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 295CC the following section:- Section 295DD. It shall be a violation of this section for an owner or operator of a terminal facility to sell motor fuel from the terminal facility to any person at a price in excess of the price it charges any other person, including a distributor or retailer which it owns or with which it is affiliated. For purposes of this section, the price an owner or operator of a terminal facility charges a distributor or retailer which it owns or with which it is affiliated shall be the price determined pursuant to the regulations issued under section 2. A sale shall not be a violation of this section if it is made pursuant to the terms of a franchise or sales contract entered into before the date of the enactment of this section. The commissioner of the division of standards may assess a civil penalty, not to exceed $500,000 for each violation described this section. The commissioner of the division of standards, in conjunction with the commissioner of the division of energy resources, shall promulgate rules and regulations requiring full disclosure by refiners and distributors of their wholesale motor fuel pricing policies, with a separate listing of each component contributing to prices, including the cost of crude oil, refining, marketing, transportation, equipment, overhead, and profit, along with a description of any rebates, incentives, and market enhancement allowances. Such rules and C:\Bills\ht00209.doc regulations shall establish procedures for determining the price an owner or operator of a terminal facility charges a distributor or retailer which it owns or with which it is affiliated. All information acquired pursuant to these regulations shall be made available to the general public. Such information shall be disseminated to the public through the division of energy resources. Such information shall be conspicuously posted at all retail motor fuel facilities in a manner clearly available and understandable to retail consumers. Such information shall be included in or with each invoice for the wholesale sale of motor fuel.
|