[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2072 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2072

    To require the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress on the 
          readiness of the heating oil and propane industries.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 2000

    Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. 
   Jeffords) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress on the 
          readiness of the heating oil and propane industries.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Home Heating Readiness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) in the United States, more than 10,000,000 households 
        burn heating oil and more than 5,000,000 burn propane to 
        generate space heat;
            (2) sharp and sustained increases in the price of heating 
        oil and propane disproportionately harm poor and elderly people 
        with low and fixed incomes, who may be forced to choose between 
        heat and food, medicine, and other basic necessities;
            (3) sharp and sustained increases in the price of heating 
        oil and propane can negatively affect the national economy and 
        regional economies, and such increases have occurred in the 
        winters of 1983-84, 1988-89, 1996-97, and 1999-2000;
            (4) sharp and sustained increases in the price of heating 
        oil and propane can be caused by--
                    (A) deficiencies in global or regional crude oil or 
                refined product supplies;
                    (B) inadequacy or underutilization of refinery 
                capacity;
                    (C) inadequacy, underutilization, or 
                disadvantageous distribution of regional refined 
                product storage capacity;
                    (D) adverse weather conditions;
                    (E) impediments to efficient and timely 
                transportation of refined product;
                    (F) market inefficiencies; and
                    (G) other factors affecting the functional 
                capability of the energy industry;
            (5) the Energy Information Administration is charged with 
        analyzing the United States energy industry and markets and 
        providing projections on the retail price of energy products, 
        including heating oil and propane;
            (6) future sharp and sustained increases in the national 
        and regional price of heating oil and propane can be avoided or 
        at least mitigated if--
                    (A) the Energy Information Administration 
                identifies potential failures in the functional 
                capability of the energy industry to provide affordable 
                heating oil and propane to consumers in all regions of 
                the United States; and
                    (B) those potential failures are remedied; and
            (7) avoiding sharp and sustained increases in the national 
        and regional price of heating oil and propane can reduce 
        Federal, State, and local expenditures to assist low-income and 
        other households in need of financial assistance when prices 
        increase.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL HOME HEATING READINESS REPORTS.

    (a) In General.--Part A of title I of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6211 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 108. ANNUAL HOME HEATING READINESS REPORTS.

    ``(a) In General.--On or before September 1 of each year, 
Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Energy Information 
Agency, shall submit to Congress a Home Heating Readiness Report on the 
readiness of the heating oil and propane industries to supply fuel 
under various weather conditions, including rapid decreases in 
temperature.
    ``(b) Contents.--The Home Heating Readiness Report shall include--
            ``(1) estimates of the consumption, expenditures, and 
        average price per gallon of heating oil and propane for the 
        upcoming period of October through March for various weather 
        conditions, with special attention to extreme weather, and 
        various regions of the country;
            ``(2) an evaluation of--
                    ``(A) global and regional crude oil and refined 
                product supplies;
                    ``(B) the adequacy and utilization of refinery 
                capacity;
                    ``(C) the adequacy, utilization, and distribution 
                of regional refined product storage capacity;
                    ``(D) weather conditions;
                    ``(E) the refined product transportation system;
                    ``(F) market inefficiencies; and
                    ``(G) any other factor affecting the functional 
                capability of the heating oil industry and propane 
                industry that has the potential to affect national or 
                regional supplies and prices;
            ``(3) recommendations on steps that the Federal, State, and 
        local governments can take to prevent or alleviate the impact 
        of sharp and sustained increases in the price of heating oil 
        and propane; and
            ``(4) recommendations on steps that companies engaged in 
        the production, refining, storage, transportation of heating 
        oil or propane, or any other activity related to the heating 
        oil industry or propane industry, can take to prevent or 
        alleviate the impact of sharp and sustained increases in the 
        price of heating oil and propane.
    ``(c) Information Requests.--The Secretary may request information 
necessary to prepare the Home Heating Readiness Report from companies 
described in subsection (b)(4).''.
    (b) Conforming and Technical Amendments.--The Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act is amended--
            (1) in the table of contents in the first section (42 
        U.S.C. prec. 6201), by inserting after the item relating to 
        section 106 the following:

``Sec. 107. Major fuel burning stationary source.
``Sec. 108. Annual home heating readiness reports.''; and
            (2) in section 107 (42 U.S.C. 6215), by striking ``Sec. 
        107. (a) No Governor'' and inserting the following:

``SEC. 107. MAJOR FUEL BURNING STATIONARY SOURCE.

    ``(a) No Governor''.
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