Transportation Fuel Market Transparency Act

II Calendar No. 12 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 259 To ensure transparent and competitive transportation fuel markets in order to protect consumers from unwarranted price increases. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 2, 2023 Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time FEBRUARY 7, 2023 Read the second time and placed on the calendar A BILL To ensure transparent and competitive transportation fuel markets in order to protect consumers from unwarranted price increases. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Fuel 4 Market Transparency Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 259 PCS SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PROHIBITIONS ON MARKET 1 MANIPULATION AND FALSE INFORMATION 2 PROVISIONS OF THE ENERGY INDEPEND- 3 ENCE AND SECURITY ACT OF 2007. 4 (a) APPLICATION TO TRANSPORTATION FUEL.—Sub- 5 title B of title VIII of the Energy Independence and Secu- 6 rity Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17301 et seq.) is amended— 7 (1) in section 811, by striking ‘‘gasoline or pe- 8 troleum distillates’’ and inserting ‘‘or transportation 9 fuel’’; 10 (2) in section 812— 11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 12 by striking ‘‘gasoline or petroleum distillates’’ 13 and inserting ‘‘or transportation fuel’’; and 14 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, gaso- 15 line, or petroleum distillates’’ and inserting ‘‘or 16 transportation fuel’’; and 17 (3) by adding at the end the following new sec- 18 tion: 19 ‘‘SEC. 816. DEFINITION OF TRANSPORTATION FUEL. 20 ‘‘In this subtitle, the term ‘transportation fuel’ in- 21 cludes gasoline, distillate fuels (including heating oil), jet 22 fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel (including ethanol, bio- 23 mass-based diesel and distillates, and renewable blending 24 components).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 259 PCS (b) PROHIBITION ON FALSE INFORMATION.—Section 1 812 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 2 (42 U.S.C. 17302) is amended— 3 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘wholesale’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘supply of, operational actions related to, out- 6 put related to, or wholesale’’; and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘to a Federal department 8 or agency’’; 9 (2) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 10 end; 11 (3) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating 12 paragraph (3), as amended by subsection (a), as 13 paragraph (2); and 14 (4) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, by 15 striking ‘‘the person intended the false or misleading 16 data to affect data compiled by the department or 17 agency’’ and inserting ‘‘the person intended the false 18 or misleading information reported by the person to 19 affect the analyses’’. 20 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 813(a) of the Energy 21 Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 22 17303(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘This subtitle’’ and in- 23 serting ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in section 814, this 24 subtitle’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 259 PCS (d) PENALTIES.—Section 814(b) of the Energy Inde- 1 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17304(b)) 2 is amended by striking ‘‘section 5 of the Federal Trade 3 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4 5(m)(1)(A) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 5 U.S.C. 45(m)(1)(A))’’. 6 SEC. 3. TRANSPORTATION FUEL MONITORING AND EN- 7 FORCEMENT WITHIN THE FEDERAL TRADE 8 COMMISSION. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TRANSPORTATION 10 FUEL MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT UNIT.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab- 12 lish within the Commission the Transportation Fuel 13 Monitoring and Enforcement Unit (in this section 14 referred to as the ‘‘Unit’’). 15 (2) DUTIES OF THE UNIT.— 16 (A) PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY.—The pri- 17 mary responsibility of the Unit shall be to assist 18 the Commission in protecting the public interest 19 by continuously and comprehensively collecting, 20 monitoring, and analyzing crude oil and trans- 21 portation fuel market data in order to— 22 (i) support transparent and competi- 23 tive market practices; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 259 PCS (ii) identify any market manipulation, 1 reporting of false information, use of mar- 2 ket power to disadvantage consumers, or 3 other unfair method of competition; and 4 (iii) facilitate enforcement of penalties 5 against persons in violation of relevant 6 statutory prohibitions. 7 (B) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—In order to carry 8 out the responsibility under subparagraph (A), 9 the Unit shall assist the Commission in car- 10 rying out the following duties: 11 (i) Receiving, compiling, and ana- 12 lyzing relevant buying and selling activity 13 in order to identify and investigate anoma- 14 lous market trends and potential market 15 manipulation. 16 (ii) Gathering evidence of wrongdoing 17 against any person in violation of the stat- 18 utory prohibitions on market manipulation 19 and false information established in, and 20 consistent with, subtitle B of title VIII of 21 the Energy Independence and Security Act 22 of 2007, as amended by section 2, or any 23 other applicable provisions of the Federal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 259 PCS Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45 et 1 seq.). 2 (iii) Obtaining a data-sharing agree- 3 ment with the Energy Information Admin- 4 istration that includes the data collected in 5 accordance with section 205(n) of the De- 6 partment of Energy Organization Act (42 7 U.S.C. 7135), as amended by section 4. 8 (iv) Obtaining data-sharing agree- 9 ments with the Commodities Futures 10 Trading Commission, the Federal Energy 11 Regulatory Commission, and as necessary 12 and practicable, State energy offices or 13 commissions, and relevant public and pri- 14 vate data sources that will allow the Com- 15 mission to receive and archive information 16 on— 17 (I) crude oil and transportation 18 fuel buying and selling activity; 19 (II) individual physical and fi- 20 nancial market positions of market 21 participants regarding crude oil and 22 transportation fuel; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 259 PCS (III) refinery output, capacity, 1 and inventory levels of crude oil and 2 transportation fuel; 3 (IV) imports and exports of 4 crude oil and transportation fuel with- 5 in regions and at levels that could im- 6 pact prices faced by consumers; 7 (V) public announcements by en- 8 ergy companies of planned pricing or 9 output decisions regarding crude oil 10 and transportation fuel; and 11 (VI) other relevant market infor- 12 mation that will facilitate the gath- 13 ering of evidence described in clause 14 (ii), including sufficient market infor- 15 mation necessary to monitor for cross- 16 market manipulations that may in- 17 clude multiple financial and physical 18 market positions. 19 (v) Any other information determined 20 appropriate by the Commission to carry 21 out the responsibility under subparagraph 22 (A). 23 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 259 PCS (1) COMMISSION.—Other than in subsection 1 (a)(2)(B)(iv), the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the 2 Federal Trade Commission. 3 (2) TRANSPORTATION FUEL.—The term ‘‘trans- 4 portation fuel’’ includes gasoline, distillate fuels (in- 5 cluding heating oil), jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and 6 biofuel (including ethanol, biomass-based diesel and 7 distillates, and renewable blending components). 8 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 9 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall pro- 10 mulgate regulations to carry out this section. 11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 12 authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such 13 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2023 14 through 2028 to carry out this section. 15 SEC. 4. TRANSPORTATION FUEL MARKET TRANSPARENCY. 16 Section 205 of the Department of Energy Organiza- 17 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 7135) is amended by adding at the 18 end the following: 19 ‘‘(n) TRANSPORTATION FUEL MARKET TRANS- 20 PARENCY.— 21 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 22 ‘‘(A) ENERGY COMPANY.—The term ‘en- 23 ergy company’ means a person (as defined in 24 section 11(e) of the Energy Supply and Envi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 259 PCS ronmental Coordination Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 1 796(e))) that— 2 ‘‘(i) owns or controls commercial 3 amounts of crude oil or transportation 4 fuel; or 5 ‘‘(ii) is engaged in— 6 ‘‘(I) exploration for, or develop- 7 ment of, crude oil; 8 ‘‘(II) extraction of crude oil; 9 ‘‘(III) refining or otherwise proc- 10 essing crude oil or transportation fuel; 11 ‘‘(IV) commercial storage of 12 crude oil or transportation fuel; 13 ‘‘(V) transportation by any 14 means of commercial amounts of 15 crude oil or transportation fuel; or 16 ‘‘(VI) wholesale or retail distribu- 17 tion of crude oil or transportation 18 fuel. 19 ‘‘(B) TRANSPORTATION FUEL.—The term 20 ‘transportation fuel’ means— 21 ‘‘(i) gasoline; 22 ‘‘(ii) distillate fuels, including heating 23 oil; 24 ‘‘(iii) jet fuel; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 259 PCS ‘‘(iv) aviation gasoline; and 1 ‘‘(v) biofuel, including ethanol, bio- 2 mass-based diesel and distillates, and re- 3 newable blending components. 4 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 5 is to collect data necessary to facilitate transparent 6 and competitive transportation fuel markets, deter- 7 mine adherence to relevant international sanctions, 8 and protect consumers. 9 ‘‘(3) SURVEYS.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 11 shall conduct surveys of energy companies to 12 collect detailed and timely information on 13 United States crude oil and transportation fuel 14 markets. 15 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION.—The Administrator 16 shall exempt an energy company from partici- 17 pating in the surveys conducted under subpara- 18 graph (A) if the energy company has a de mini- 19 mis market presence or impact, as determined 20 by the Administrator. 21 ‘‘(4) DATA COLLECTED.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The surveys con- 23 ducted under paragraph (3) shall collect infor- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 259 PCS mation on a national, regional, State, and en- 1 ergy company basis. 2 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION.—The surveys con- 3 ducted under paragraph (3) shall collect the fol- 4 lowing information with respect to crude oil and 5 transportation fuel, as applicable: 6 ‘‘(i) The quantity of crude oil and 7 transportation fuel imported and exported. 8 ‘‘(ii) The quantity of crude oil and 9 transportation fuel refined, stored, and 10 transported. 11 ‘‘(iii) The quantity of crude oil and 12 transportation fuel entering final retail and 13 commercial commerce. 14 ‘‘(iv) The quantity of crude oil and 15 transportation fuel purchased and sold at 16 any upstream point between energy compa- 17 nies, including off-exchange bilateral sales 18 and sales between subsidiaries of the same 19 energy company. 20 ‘‘(v) Market price data for the trans- 21 actions described in clauses (i) through 22 (iv). 23 ‘‘(vi) Submissions to relevant price re- 24 porting entities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 259 PCS ‘‘(vii) Any other such data, analyses, 1 or evaluations that the Administrator de- 2 termines is necessary to achieve the pur- 3 pose described in paragraph (2). 4 ‘‘(C) ORIGIN OF FUEL.—In obtaining the 5 information described in subparagraph (B), the 6 Administrator shall, to the maximum extent 7 practicable, track and publish the country of 8 original production of crude oil and transpor- 9 tation fuel that may have been resold, refined, 10 blended, stored, or otherwise been exchanged or 11 sold before being imported or exported into the 12 United States. 13 ‘‘(D) OTHER SOURCES.—The Adminis- 14 trator may, when practicable and determined 15 reliable by the Administrator, obtain informa- 16 tion described in subparagraph (B) from pri- 17 vate price publishers and providers of trade 18 processing services. 19 ‘‘(5) MINIMIZING REPORTING BURDENS.—The 20 Administrator shall seek to minimize any burdens on 21 energy companies in reporting information to the 22 Administrator, including by automating data sub- 23 mission practices for data collected under the sur- 24 veys conducted under paragraph (3). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Feb 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S259.PCS S259 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 259 PCS ‘‘(6) PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex- 2 tent practicable, subject to this paragraph, the 3 Administrator shall consistently and promptly 4 make publicly available analyses of the results 5 of the data collected pursuant to this subsection 6 in a form and manner easily adaptable for pub- 7 lic use and machine analysis. 8 ‘‘(B) GEOGRAPHICAL SPECIFICITY.—Anal- 9 yses published under subparagraph (A)— 10 ‘‘(i) shall be geographically specific 11 enough to provide meaningful differentia- 12 tion between fuel markets; and 13 ‘‘(ii) shall not organize geographical 14 data in the form of Petroleum Administra- 15 tion for Defense Districts or other geo- 16 graphic aggregations lacking sufficient res- 17 olution to ascertain regionally specific mar- 18 ket trends or disparities. 19 ‘‘(C) NONDISCLOSURE.—Any analysis pub- 20 lished under subparagraph (A) shall not dis- 21 close matters exempted from mandatory disclo- 22 sure under section 552(b) of title 5, Unite [Text truncated for display. 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