[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 546 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 546

  To amend the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to provide consumers 
with additional information concerning octane ratings and requirements, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 17, 1995

 Mr. Schumer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to provide consumers 
with additional information concerning octane ratings and requirements, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION. 1. WARNING STATEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 202(c) of the Petroleum Marketing 
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2822(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking out ``(c) Each'' and inserting in lieu 
        thereof ``(c)(1) Each'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as 
        subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Each automotive fuel retailer shall also display in a clear 
and conspicuous manner, at the point of sale to the ultimate purchaser 
of automotive gasoline, the following warning statement:
            ``WARNING! Most cars are designed to operate on low-octane 
        gasoline. Check your owner's manual to see what grade of 
        gasoline is best for your car.
    ``(3) The warning statement required by paragraph (2) shall appear 
on each automotive gasoline dispenser with the word `Warning' in 
capital letters and all the letters in the statement at least \3/8\ of 
an inch in height and of a thickness and type face which assures that 
they will be legible, prominent, and conspicuous.''.
    (b) Definition.--Section 201 of such Act is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(19) The term `automotive gasoline' means gasoline of a 
        type distributed for use as a fuel in any motor vehicle.''.
    (c)  Enforcement.--Section 203(b)(1) of such Act is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting the following before 
        the semicolon: ``and making findings with respect to the 
        warning statement required by section 202(c)(2)''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting after ``rating'' the 
        following: ``or the warning statement required by section 
        202(c)(2)''.
    (d) Conforming Amendment.--Section 203(c)(2)(B) of the Petroleum 
Marketing Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2823(c)(2)(B)) is amended by 
striking ``202(c)'' and inserting ``202(c)(1)''.
    (e) Effective Date.--(1) The Federal Trade Commission shall, within 
60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, prescribe rules 
for the purpose of carrying out the amendment made by subsection (a).
    (2) The amendments made by this section shall become effective 120 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 1992.

    Section 1503(b)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 
102-486) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(2) In carrying out the study to determine the nature of a 
uniform national label under subsection (a)(2)(B), the Federal Trade 
Commission shall weigh the consumer, environmental, and energy saving 
benefits of any element of such label against the necessity for a 
concise, practical, and cost-efficient label.''.

SEC. 3. DISPLAY OF AUTOMOTIVE FUEL REQUIREMENT ON MOTOR VEHICLES.

    (a) In General.--Section 202(d) of the Petroleum Marketing 
Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2822(d)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``or'' and inserting ``and''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``Such rules shall 
        require that the display on each such motor vehicle be located 
        near the fuel tank fill inlet of the motor vehicle.''.
    (b) Deadline for Prescribing Rules.--Not later than 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission 
shall prescribe the rules required by section 202(d) of the Petroleum 
Marketing Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2822(d)), as amended by this Act.
    (c) Effective Date.--Rules prescribed under section 202(d) of the 
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (15 U.S.C. 2822(d)), as amended by 
this Act, shall take effect beginning on the first day of the first 
model year which begins more than 12 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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