§6237. Regional Petroleum Reserve

(a) Federal Energy Administration Regions in which Reserve may be established and maintained

(1) The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a Regional Petroleum Reserve in, or readily accessible to, each Federal Energy Administration Region, as defined in title 10, Code of Federal Regulations in effect on November 1, 1975, in which imports of residual fuel oil or any refined petroleum product, during the 24-month period preceding the date of computation, equal more than 20 percent of demand for such oil or product in such regions during such period, as determined by the Secretary. Such volume shall be computed annually.

(2) For the purpose of carrying out this section-

(A) any State that is an island shall be considered to be a separate Federal Energy Administration Region, as defined in title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on November 1, 1975;

(B) determinations made with respect to Regions, other than States that are islands, shall be made as if the islands were not part of the Regions; and

(C) with respect to determinations made for any State that is an island, the term "refined petroleum product" shall have the same meaning given the term "petroleum product" in section 6202(3) of this title.

(b) Level of Reserve

To implement the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan, the Secretary shall accumulate and maintain in or near any such Federal Energy Administration Region described in subsection (a) of this section, a Regional Petroleum Reserve containing volumes of such oil or product, described in subsection (a) of this section, at a level adequate to provide substantial protection against an interruption or reduction in imports of such oil or product to such region, except that the level of any such Regional Petroleum Reserve shall not exceed the aggregate volume of imports of such oil or product into such region during the period of the 3 consecutive months, during the 24-month period specified in subsection (a) of this section, in which average monthly import levels were the highest, as determined by the Secretary. Such volume shall be computed annually.

(c) Substitutions for all or part of volume stored in Reserve

The Secretary may place in storage crude oil, residual fuel oil, or any refined petroleum product in substitution for all or part of the volume of residual fuel oil or any refined petroleum product stored in any Regional Petroleum Reserve pursuant to the provisions of this section if he finds that such substitution (1) is necessary or desirable for purposes of economy, efficiency, or for other reasons, and (2) may be made without delaying or otherwise adversely affecting the fulfillment of the purpose of the Regional Petroleum Reserve.

( Pub. L. 94–163, title I, §157, Dec. 22, 1975, 89 Stat. 885 ; Pub. L. 95–619, title VI, §691(b)(2), Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3288 ; Pub. L. 102–486, title XIV, §1405, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2995 .)

Amendments

1992-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–486 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

1978-Pub. L. 95–619 substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator", meaning Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, wherever appearing.

Transfer of Functions

Federal Energy Administration terminated and functions vested by law in Administration or in its Administrator, officers and components transferred to Secretary of Energy (unless otherwise specifically provided) by sections 7151(a) and 7293 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 6232 of this title.