1.This Act may be cited as the
National Strategic Gasoline Reserve
for Purposes of National Security Act of 2011
.
2.Strategic
Gasoline Reserve
(a)
(1)The
Secretary of Energy shall establish a Strategic Gasoline Reserve (in this
section referred to as the Gasoline Reserve) system with a total
capacity of 10,000,000 barrels of regular unleaded gasoline.
(2)No later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall determine strategic locations for no less than
three and no more than five Gasoline Reserve sites, each located in a different
geographical region of the United States. When determining site locations, the
Secretary shall consider all factors including, but not limited to, seasonal
and regional variations in gasoline, cost, regional population, accessibility
for distribution, and the region’s vulnerability to natural disasters and acts
of terrorism. The Secretary shall endeavor to find the most affordable method
for storage and when possible should consider the methodology used for the
creation of the Home Heating Oil Reserve and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Gasoline Reserve site locations shall be operational within 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(3)In establishing the Gasoline Reserve under this
section, the Secretary of Energy shall confer with the Secretary of
Transportation and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to physical
structures’ security, the transportation security, and operational
security.
(b)Not
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Energy shall transmit to the Congress, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and
the Governor of each State, in which a reserve will be sited, a plan for the
transportation of the contents of the Gasoline Reserve under this section to
wholesale or retail markets in the event of an emergency sale under subsection
(e).
(c)The
Secretary of Energy shall complete the process of filling the Gasoline Reserve
to a minimum of 90 percent within 2 years after submitting a transportation
plan to the Congress under subsection (b).
(d)The Secretary shall conduct an annual review of the
Gasoline Reserve supply to ensure that reserves do not exceed their shelf-life.
The Secretary shall have in place within 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act a plan for ensuring that the inventory of the Gasoline Reserve is sold
and replaced in a manner that ensures the integrity of the product at all
times. The Secretary shall have the authority to exchange an aging supply of
reserve gasoline through private sales or by utilizing the fuel for military or
Government use. The Secretary shall seek the best means to minimize transaction
expense.
(e)Requests for
Emergency Sale AuthorizationThe Secretary of Energy shall sell
gasoline from the Gasoline Reserve if—
(1)the Governor of an
affected State submits a written request that—
(A)provides
sufficient evidence that the sale or supply of gasoline in the region has been
severely disrupted caused in significant part by an interruption in the normal
distribution or availability of gasoline which dramatically affects the price
of gasoline; and
(B)provides
sufficient evidence that the State would experience further adverse effects
without the sale of gasoline from the Gasoline Reserve; and
(2)the President
issues an Executive Order requiring immediate release from any or all reserves
after determining that the conditions specified in paragraph (1) are
satisfied.
(f)
(1)The Secretary of Energy shall respond to a request
transmitted under subsection (e)(1) within 7 days of receipt of the request
through a written response, regardless of the decision.
(2)The Secretary may request additional information if
the Secretary concludes there are insufficient reasons provided in a request
for the sale of gasoline from the Gasoline Reserve.
(g)The
Secretary of Energy is authorized to conduct purchases and sales of gasoline at
wholesale for maintenance of the Gasoline Reserve system. In conducting these
transactions, the Secretary shall—
(1)ensure that the
overall supply returns to a minimum 90 percent capacity in a timely manner
following a sizeable depletion due to an emergency; and
(2)assess market
conditions to avoid to the extent possible purchases when prices appear to be
at higher levels unlikely to be sustained, or when purchases of gasoline are
likely to significantly raise gasoline prices in the market served by a
particular Reserve, consistent with the need for timely replenishment of the
Reserves after emergency or non-emergency sales.
(h)At a specified date as determined by the Secretary of
Energy, the Secretary shall submit to the President, the Committee on Energy
and Commerce of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the status of the Gasoline Reserve
outlining the Reserve’s current capacity, emergency sales from the previous
year, any security threats in the previous year, and the current condition of
the storage facilities. The Secretary shall also include in the report any
recommendations for improvements in the efficiency of the purchase,
transportation, sale, and storage of the Gasoline Reserves.
(i)Authorization of
AppropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary of Energy such sums as may be necessary for construction and
operation of the Gasoline Reserve for fiscal years 2011 through 2015.