[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1717 Introduced in Senate (IS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1717

        To prevent gas and oil gouging during natural disasters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 19, 2005

  Mr. Dayton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To prevent gas and oil gouging during natural disasters.

    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 ``Oil and Gas Price Gouging Prevention 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            (2) Qualifying natural disaster declaration.--The term 
        ``qualifying natural disaster declaration'' means--
                    (A) a natural disaster declared by the Secretary 
                under section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
                Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)); or
                    (B) a major disaster or emergency designated by the 
                President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
                and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).

SEC. 3. RESTRICTION ON PRICE GOUGING.

    (a) Restrictions.--It shall be unlawful in the United States during 
the period of a qualifying natural disaster declaration in the United 
States to increase the price of any oil or gas product more than 15 
percent above the price of that product immediately prior to the 
declaration unless the increase in the amount charged is attributable 
to additional costs incurred by the seller or national or international 
market trends.
    (b) Enforcement.--
            (1) Enforcement powers.--
                    (A) In general.--The Commission shall enforce this 
                section as part of its duties under the Federal Trade 
                Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
                    (B) Reporting of violations.--For purposes of the 
                enforcement of this section, the Commission shall 
                establish procedures to permit the reporting of 
                violations of this section to the Commission, including 
                appropriate links on the Internet website of the 
                Commission and the use of a toll-free telephone number 
                for such purposes.
            (2) Penalty.--
                    (A) Criminal penalty.--A violation of this section 
                shall be deemed a felony and a person, upon conviction 
                of a violation of this section, shall be punished by 
                fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if 
                any other person, $350,000, or by imprisonment not 
                exceeding 3 years, or both.
                    (B) Civil penalty.--The Commission may impose a 
                civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for each violation 
                of this section. For purposes of this subparagraph, 
                each day of violation shall constitute a separate 
                offense. Civil penalties under this subparagraph shall 
                not exceed amounts provided in subparagraph (A).
    (c) Action by State Attorney General.--The attorney general of a 
State may bring a civil action for a violation of this section pursuant 
to section 4C of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 15c).
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