§6239. Congressional review of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan; implementation

(a) Congressional review of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan as prerequisite to implementation

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan shall not become effective and may not be implemented, unless-

(1) the Secretary has transmitted such Plan to the Congress pursuant to section 6234(b) of this title; and

(2) neither House of Congress has disapproved (or both Houses have approved) such Plan, in accordance with the procedures specified in section 6421 of this title.

(b) Effective date of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan

For purposes of congressional review of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan under subsection (a) of this section, the 5 calendar days described in section 6421(f)(4)(A) of this title shall be lengthened to 15 calendar days, and the 15 calendar days described in section 6421(c) and (d) of this title shall be lengthened to 45 calendar days.

(c) Preparation and transmittal to Congress of proposals for designing, constructing, and filling storage or related facilities; statement accompanying proposal

The Secretary may, prior to transmittal of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan, prepare and transmit to the Congress proposals for designing, constructing, and filling storage or related facilities. Any such proposal shall be accompanied by a statement explaining (1) the need for action on such proposals prior to completion of such Plan, (2) the anticipated role of the proposed storage or related facilities in such Plan, and (3) to the maximum extent practicable, the same or similar assessments, statements, estimates, evaluations, projections, and other information which section 6234(e) of this title requires to be included in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan.

(d) Preparation and transmittal to Congress of amendments to Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan or Early Storage Reserve Plan; statement accompanying amendment

The Secretary may prepare amendments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan or to the Early Storage Reserve Plan. He shall transmit any such amendment to the Congress together with a statement explaining the need for such amendment and, to the maximum extent practicable, the same or similar assessments, statements, estimates, evaluations, projections, and other information which section 6234(e) of this title requires to be included in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan.

(e) Presidential determination; 60-day period

Subject to section 6241(g)(2) of this title, any amendment transmitted pursuant to subsection (d) of this section may not become effective until 60 days after the date of such transmittal, except that such 60-day period shall not apply if the President determines that such amendment is required by a severe energy supply interruption or by obligations of the United States under the international energy program.

(f) Powers of Secretary in implementing Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan, Early Storage Reserve Plan, proposals, and amendments

To the extent necessary or appropriate to implement-

(1) the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan which has taken effect pursuant to subsection (a) of this section;

(2) the Early Storage Reserve Plan;

(3) any proposal described in subsection (c) of this section, or any amendment described in subsection (d) of this section, which such proposal or amendment has taken effect pursuant to subsection (e) of this section;

(4) any technical or clerical amendment or any amendment to the Early Storage Reserve Plan; and

(5) the storage of petroleum products in interim storage facilities,

the Secretary may:

(A) promulgate rules, regulations, or orders;

(B) acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, land or interests in land for the location of storage and related facilities;

(C) construct, purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire storage and related facilities;

(D) use, lease, maintain, sell, or otherwise dispose of storage and related facilities acquired pursuant to this part;

(E) acquire, subject to the provisions of section 6240 of this title, by purchase, exchange, or otherwise, petroleum products for storage in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, including the Early Storage Reserve and the Regional Petroleum Reserve;

(F) store petroleum products in storage facilities owned and controlled by the United States or in storage facilities owned by others if such facilities are subject to audit by the United States;

(G) execute any contracts necessary to carry out the provisions of such Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan, Early Storage Reserve Plan, proposal or amendment;

(H) require any importer of petroleum products or any refiner to (A) acquire, and (B) store and maintain in readily available inventories, petroleum products in the Industrial Petroleum Reserve, pursuant to section 6236 of this title;

(I) require the storage of petroleum products in the Industrial Petroleum Reserve, pursuant to section 6236 of this title, on such reasonable terms as the Secretary may specify in storage facilities owned and controlled by the United States or in storage facilities other than those owned by the United States if such facilities are subject to audit by the United States;

(J) require the maintenance of the Industrial Petroleum Reserve;

(K) maintain the Reserve; and

(L) bring an action, whenever he deems it necessary to implement the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan, in any court having jurisdiction of such proceedings, to acquire by condemnation any real or personal property, including facilities, temporary use of facilities, or other interests in land, together with any personal property located thereon or used therewith.

(g) Acquisition of property by negotiation as prerequisite to condemnation

Before any condemnation proceedings are instituted, an effort shall be made to acquire the property involved by negotiation, unless, the effort to acquire such property by negotiation would, in the judgement of the Secretary be futile or so time-consuming as to unreasonably delay the implementation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan, because of (1) reasonable doubt as to the identity of the owners, (2) the large number of persons with whom it would be necessary to negotiate, or (3) other reasons.

(h) Use of interim storage facilities; environmental considerations for existing facilities

(1) No amendment to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan relating to interim storage facilities shall be required prior to the storage of petroleum products in such facilities.

(2) Petroleum products stored in interim storage facilities pursuant to this part shall be considered to be in storage in the Reserve.

(3)(A) No action relating to the storage of petroleum products in existing interim storage facilities in the Reserve shall be deemed to be "a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment" within the meaning of that term as it is used in section 4332(2)(C) of this title.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, an interim storage facility shall be considered to be an existing interim storage facility if it-

(i) is in existence on July 1, 1982;

(ii) was constructed in a manner appropriate for storing petroleum products; and

(iii) is not modified after July 1, 1982, in any manner which substantially increases the storage capacity of the facility. Any modification of such facility may not include replacement or reconstruction.

(4) The term "interim storage facilities", when used in this part, may include any vessel which meets the applicable requirements under this part.

(i) Report to Congress on results of negotiations for enlargement of Strategic Petroleum Reserve to one billion barrels

No later than 18 months after September 15, 1990, the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report on the results of negotiations undertaken pursuant to part C of this subchapter. The report shall-

(1) describe the terms of any contracts negotiated pursuant to part C of this subchapter and any cost savings that would result from such contracts relative to the costs of acquisition pursuant to this part; and

(2) give all available information on any cost savings that would likely result from additional contracts that could be negotiated pursuant to part C of this subchapter for completion of the storage of one billion barrels of petroleum product in the Reserve relative to the costs of acquisition pursuant to this part.

(j) Amendment of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan to include plans for completion of storage of one billion barrels

No later than 24 months after September 15, 1990, the Secretary shall amend the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan to prescribe plans for completion of storage of one billion barrels of petroleum product in the Reserve. Such amendment shall comply with the provisions of this section and shall detail the Secretary's plans for the design, construction, leasing or other acquisition, and fill of storage and related facilities of the Reserve to achieve such one billion barrels of storage. Such amendment shall not be subject to the congressional review procedures contained in section 6421 of this title. In assessing alternatives in the development of such plans, the Secretary shall consider leasing privately owned storage facilities.

(k) Exemption from subtitle IV of title 49

A storage or related facility of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve owned by or leased to the United States is not subject to the Interstate Commerce Act.

(l) Drawdown plan amendments during implementation

Notwithstanding subsection (d) of this section, during any period in which the Distribution Plan is being implemented, the Secretary may amend the plan and promulgate rules, regulations, or orders to implement such amendments in accordance with section 6393 of this title, without regard to the requirements of section 553 of title 5 and section 7191 of this title. Such amendments shall be transmitted to the Congress together with a statement explaining the need for such amendments.

( Pub. L. 94–163, title I, §159, Dec. 22, 1975, 89 Stat. 886 ; Pub. L. 95–619, title VI, §691(b)(2), Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3288 ; Pub. L. 97–229, §4(b)(1), (2)(B), Aug. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 251 , 252; Pub. L. 99–58, title I, §102(a), July 2, 1985, 99 Stat. 102 ; Pub. L. 101–383, §§4(a), 9, 11, Sept. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 728 , 735.)

References in Text

The Interstate Commerce Act, referred to in text, is act Feb. 4, 1887, ch. 104, 24 Stat. 379 , as amended, which was classified generally to chapters 1, 8, 12, 13, and 19 (§§1 et seq., 301 et seq., 901 et seq., 1001 et seq., and 1231 et seq., respectively) of former Title 49, Transportation. The Act was repealed (subject to an exception) by Pub. L. 95–473, §4(b), Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1466 , the first section of which enacted subtitle IV (§10101 et seq.) of Title 49. Section 4(c) of Pub. L. 95–473 excepted from repeal those provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act that vested functions in the Interstate Commerce Commission, or the chairman or members of the Commission, related to transportation of oil by pipeline and that were transferred to the Secretary of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by sections 7155 and 7172(b) of this title.

Amendments

1990-Subsecs. (i), (j). Pub. L. 101–383, §4(a), added subsecs. (i) and (j).

Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 101–383, §9, added subsec. (k).

Subsec. (l). Pub. L. 101–383, §11, added subsec. (l).

1985-Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 99–58 amended subsec. (e) generally, substituting provisions directing that amendments transmitted pursuant to subsec. (d) of this section not become effective until 60 days after transmittal except in the case of enumerated presidential determinations for provisions which had formerly empowered Congress to disapprove of transmitted proposals and amendments in accordance with the procedures specified in section 6421 of this title.

1982-Subsec. (f)(5). Pub. L. 97–229, §4(b)(1), added par. (5).

Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 97–229, §4(b)(2)(B), added subsec. (h).

1978-Subsecs. (a)(1), (c), (d), (e)(1), (f), (f)(I), (g). Pub. L. 95–619 substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator", meaning Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, wherever appearing.

Change of Name

Committee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Jan. 4, 1995.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 6234, 6235, 6236, 6240, 6241, 6246 of this title; title 10 section 7430.