68th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--1995 Regular Session NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within { + braces and plus signs + } . LC 322 House Bill 2365 Sponsored by Representative COURTNEY SUMMARY The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's brief statement of the essential features of the measure as introduced. Allows Director of Agriculture to establish testing procedures for inspecting motor vehicle fuels for compliance with fuel quality standards. Prohibits retail dealer from selling or offering for sale motor vehicle fuel that violates rules adopted pursuant to Act. Requires retail dealer to display sign on or near dispensing device that accurately identifies motor vehicle fuel dispensed from device. Provides for inspection fee. Appropriates moneys to Department of Agriculture to enforce provisions of Act. Imposes maximum $15,000 civil penalty for violation of fuel standards, notice requirements or rules under this Act. A BILL FOR AN ACT Relating to vehicle fuels; creating new provisions; amending ORS 561.144 and 646.905; and appropriating money. Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon: SECTION 1. ORS 646.905 is amended to read: 646.905. As used in ORS 646.910 to 646.920: (1) 'Alcohol' means a volatile flammable liquid having the general formula CnH(2n+1)OH used or sold for the purpose of blending or mixing with gasoline for use in propelling motor vehicles, and commonly or commercially known or sold as an alcohol, and includes ethanol or methanol. (2) 'Co-solvent' means an alcohol other than methanol which is blended with either methanol or ethanol or both to minimize phase separation in gasoline. { + (3) 'Director' means the Director of Agriculture. + } { - (3) - } { + (4) + } 'Ethanol' means ethyl alcohol, a flammable liquid having the formula C2H5OH used or sold for the purpose of blending or mixing with gasoline for use in motor vehicles. { - (4) - } { + (5) + } 'Gasoline' means any fuel sold for use in spark ignition engines whether leaded or unleaded. { - (5) - } { + (6) + } 'Methanol' means methyl alcohol, a flammable liquid having the formula CH3OH used or sold for the purpose of blending or mixing with gasoline for use in motor vehicles. { + (7) 'Motor vehicle fuel' means gasoline, diesel or any other liquid product used for the generation of power in an internal combustion engine, except aviation jet fuels, liquified petroleum or natural gases. + } { - (6) - } { + (8) + } 'Motor vehicles' means all vehicles, vessels, watercraft, engines, machines or mechanical contrivances that are propelled by internal combustion engines or motors. { - (7) - } { + (9) + } 'Retail dealer' means any person who owns, operates, controls or supervises an establishment at which gasoline is sold or offered for sale to the public. { - (8) - } { + (10) + } 'Wholesale dealer' means any person engaged in the sale of gasoline if the seller knows or has reasonable cause to believe the buyer intends to resell the gasoline in the same or an altered form to another. SECTION 2. { + Sections 3 to 15 of this Act are added to and made a part of ORS 646.910 to 646.920. + } SECTION 3. { + Notwithstanding ORS 646.910 to 646.920, it is unlawful for: (1) A retail dealer to sell or offer for sale any motor vehicle fuel which violates any rule or standard adopted pursuant to section 7 of this 1995 Act. (2) A retail dealer to sell or offer for sale any motor vehicle fuel from a dispensing device which does not have a sign displayed which accurately identifies the motor vehicle fuel being dispensed from that device in violation of section 4 of this 1995 Act. + } SECTION 4. { + A retail dealer who sells or offers for sale any motor vehicle fuel shall conspicuously display a sign on or near each dispensing device, using descriptive commercial terms, that accurately identifies the motor vehicle fuel being dispensed from that device. The sign shall be posted in such a manner as the Director of Agriculture determines will adequately inform the purchaser of the motor vehicle fuel's identity. + } SECTION 5. { + (1) The Director of Agriculture may, upon the signed complaint of a consumer or motor club, test motor fuel for the purpose of inspecting the motor fuel supply of any service station, business or other establishment which sells or offers for sale motor vehicle fuel, for compliance with the fuel quality standards outlined in ORS 646.910 to 646.920. (2) The director or the director's authorized agent shall have access during normal business hours to all places where motor vehicle fuel is marketed for the purpose of examination, inspection and investigation of the establishment's motor vehicle fuel supply and shall collect or cause to be collected samples of such motor vehicle fuel, and shall test or analyze such samples for compliance with fuel quality standards outlined in ORS 646.910 to 646.920 and in the annual book of standards for the American Society for Testing and Materials and any supplements or revisions thereto, as amended or modified by the director. + } SECTION 6. { + (1) The Director of Agriculture may issue a stop-use order, hold order or removal order for any motor vehicle fuel offered or exposed for sale, or in the process of delivery or susceptible to commercial use, which is found not to be in compliance with the fuel quality standards prescribed in ORS 646.910 to 646.920. The director may rescind the stop-use, hold or removal order if the fuel is brought into full compliance with motor vehicle fuel standards. (2) No person shall use, remove from the premises specified or fail to remove from the premises specified any motor vehicle fuel in a manner contrary to the terms of a stop-use order, hold order or removal order issued under authority of this section. + } SECTION 7. { + (1) For the purpose of administering the provisions of sections 3 to 6 of this 1995 Act, the Director of Agriculture is authorized to adopt rules necessary for such administration and shall base such rules on the most current motor fuel standards set forth in the annual book of standards for the American Society for Testing and Materials and any supplements and revisions thereto. However, the director may amend or modify such motor fuel standards in adopting rules under this section. (2) Rules adopted by the director under this section may include, but are not limited to, motor fuel grade advertising, pump grade labeling, minimum standards for motor fuels and identification requirements for motor fuels. + } SECTION 8. { + As used in sections 8 to 15 of this 1995 Act: (1) 'Bulk facility' means a facility, including pipeline terminals, refinery terminals, rail and barge terminals and associated underground and aboveground tanks, connected or separate, from which petroleum products are withdrawn from bulk and delivered into a cargo tank or barge used to transport those products. (2) 'Cargo tank' means an assembly used for transporting, hauling or delivering petroleum products and consisting of a tank having one or more compartments mounted on a wagon, truck, trailer, truck-trailer, railcar or wheels. 'Cargo tank' does not include any assembly used for transporting, hauling or delivering petroleum products that hold less than 100 gallons in individual, separable containers. (3) 'Department' means the Department of Revenue. (4) 'Person' means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation, partnership, joint venture, consortium, association, state, municipality, commission, political subdivision of a state or any interstate body, any commercial entity and the Federal Government or any agency of the Federal Government. (5) 'Petroleum product' means a petroleum product that is obtained from distilling and processing crude oil and that is capable of being used as a fuel for the propulsion of a motor vehicle or aircraft, including motor gasoline, gasohol, other alcohol-blended fuels, aviation gasoline, kerosene, distillate fuel oil and number 1 and number 2 diesel. The term does not include naphtha-type jet fuel, kerosene-type jet fuel, or a petroleum product distilled for use in chemical manufacturing or feedstock of that manufacturing or fuel sold to vessels engaged in interstate or foreign commerce. (6) 'Withdrawal from bulk' means the removal of a petroleum product from a bulk facility for delivery directly into a cargo tank or a barge to be transported to another location other than another bulk facility for use or sale in this state. + } SECTION 9. { + The Department of Revenue shall collect a fee equal to the actual cost of inspection from the facility being inspected plus administration expenses. + } SECTION 10. { + The Department of Revenue, for good cause, may extend for a period of time not to exceed one year, the time for payment of the fee due under section 9 of this 1995 Act. The extension may be granted at any time if a written request is filed with the department within or prior to the period for which the extension may be granted. If the time for payment is extended at the request of a person, interest at the rate established under ORS 305.220, for each month, or a fraction of a month, from the time the payment was originally due to the time payment is actually made, shall be added to the required payment. + } SECTION 11. { + (1) Each operator of a bulk facility and each person who imports petroleum products into this state shall keep at the person's registered place of business complete and accurate records of any petroleum products sold, purchased by or brought into or caused to be brought into the place of business. (2) The Department of Revenue, upon oral or written reasonable notice, may make such examinations of the books, papers, records and equipment required to be kept under this section as it may deem necessary in carrying out the provisions of section 9 of this 1995 Act. + } SECTION 12. { + The Department of Revenue is authorized to establish those rules and procedures for the implementation and enforcement of section 9 of this 1995 Act that are consistent with its provisions and are considered necessary and appropriate. + } SECTION 13. { + The provisions of ORS chapters 305 and 314 as to liens, delinquencies, claims for refund, issuance of refunds, conferences, appeals to the Director of the Department of Revenue, appeals to the Oregon Tax Court, stay of collection pending appeal, cancellation, waiver, reduction or compromise of fees, penalties or interest, subpoenaing and examining witnesses and books and papers, and the issuance of warrants and the procedures relating thereto, shall apply to the collection of fees, penalties and interest by the Department of Revenue under section 9 of this 1995 Act, except where the context requires otherwise. + } SECTION 14. { + All moneys received by the Department of Revenue under section 9 of this 1995 Act shall be deposited in the State Treasury and credited to a suspense account established under ORS 293.445. After payment of administration expenses incurred by the department in the administration of section 9 of this 1995 Act and of refunds or credits arising from erroneous overpayments, the balance of the money shall be credited to the Motor Fuel Inspection Program Account of the Department of Agriculture Service Fund. Such moneys are continuously appropriated to the Department of Agriculture for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of this 1995 Act. + } SECTION 15. { + (1) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, any person who violates a provision of section 3, 4 or 6 of this 1995 Act or any rule or order adopted or entered under section 6 or 7 of this 1995 Act, shall incur a civil penalty not to exceed $15,000. (2) For the purposes of this section, each day of violation is a separate offense and the penalties provided in subsection (1) of this section apply to each such offense. (3) Any civil penalty imposed under subsection (1) of this section shall be established, imposed, collected and appealed in the same manner prescribed in ORS 616.900, except that a penalty collected under this section shall be deposited in the Motor Fuel Inspection Program Account of the Department of Agriculture Service Fund, which account is hereby created. + } SECTION 16. ORS 561.144 is amended to read: 561.144. (1) The State Treasurer shall establish a Department of Agriculture Service Fund which shall be a trust fund separate from the General Fund and included under ORS 293.115 (6), and which shall not be subject to ORS 293.105 and 293.110. The department shall deposit all license and service fees paid to it under the provisions of the statutes identified in subsection (3) of this section in the Department of Agriculture Service Fund. The State Treasurer is the custodian of this trust fund which shall be deposited by the treasurer in such depositories as are authorized to receive deposits of the General Fund, and which may be invested by the treasurer in the same manner as authorized by ORS 293.701 to 293.820. (2) Notwithstanding ORS 293.140, interest received on deposits credited to the Department of Agriculture Service Fund shall accrue to and become a part of the Department of Agriculture Service Fund. (3) The license and service fees subject to this section are those described in ORS 561.400, 571.057, 571.063, 571.145, 583.004, 583.046, 583.445, 583.510, 583.610, 585.050, 586.270, 586.580, 586.650, 596.030, 596.311, 599.235, 599.269, 599.406, 599.610, 600.030, 601.040, 602.090, 603.025, 603.075, 616.706, 618.115, 618.136, 619.031, 621.072, 621.166, 621.266, 621.297, 621.335, 621.730, 622.080, 625.180, 628.240, 632.211, 632.336, 632.425, 632.600, 632.720, 632.730, 632.741, 632.940, 632.945, 633.015, 633.029, 633.361, 633.460, 633.680, 633.700, 633.720, 634.016, 634.116, 634.122, 634.126, 634.132, 634.136, 634.212 { + , + } { - and - } 635.030 { + and section 9 of this 1995 Act + }. ----------