STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5698 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 22, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. THIELE, COOK, SANTABARBARA, ZEBROWSKI, McDONOUGH, ROZIC, L. ROSENTHAL, OTIS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Economic Development AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to zone pricing of gasoline, and to amend chapter 579 of the laws of 2008, amending the general business law relating to zone pricing of gasoline, in relation to zone pricing for retail motor fuel based on geographic location The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 399-ee of the 2 general business law is relettered paragraph (a-1) and a new paragraph 3 (a) is added to read as follows: 4 (a) "Additional costs" means all replacement and transportation costs 5 and taxes incurred. 6 § 2. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 399-ee of the general 7 business law, as added by chapter 579 of the laws of 2008, is amended to 8 read as follows: 9 (g) "Relevant geographic market" means the geographic area [~~of effec-~~ 10 ~~tive competition~~] which is supplied by the same terminal facility. 11 § 3. Paragraph (m) of subdivision 1 of section 399-ee of the general 12 business law, as added by chapter 579 of the laws of 2008, is amended to 13 read as follows: 14 (m) "Zone pricing" means the [~~arbitrary~~] establishment of price 15 differences based on the geographical location of the retail outlet 16 within the relevant geographic market, [~~based on~~] without regard to the 17 posted terminal price [or] and any additional costs where the effect is 18 to injure competition. 19 § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 399-ee of the general business law, as 20 added by chapter 579 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10348-01-3

A. 5698 2 1 2. No wholesaler or dealer shall engage in zone pricing with respect 2 to any motor fuel of like grade or quality, which is supplied to dealer 3 operated retail outlets. 4 § 5. Subdivision 3 of section 399-ee of the general business law is 5 amended by adding a new undesignated paragraph to read as follows: 6 Notwithstanding any right of action to the attorney general as 7 provided in this section, a wholesaler or dealer who has been injured by 8 reason of a violation of this section may bring an action in his or her 9 own name to enjoin such unlawful act, however, no damages of any nature 10 shall be recoverable in such action. 11 § 6. Section 2 of chapter 579 of the laws of 2008, amending the gener- 12 al business law relating to zone pricing of gasoline, is amended to read 13 as follows: 14 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and 15 declares that for the past several years motor fuel prices have greatly 16 fluctuated. In some cases, price fluctuations are caused by natural 17 market conditions. In other cases, fluctuations result from artificial 18 manipulation of the market. One such artificial pricing manipulation is 19 zone pricing. Zone pricing is the setting of different wholesale prices 20 for retail motor fuel [~~that operate in different geographic areas~~] based 21 on geographic location. Zone pricing increases the price of retail motor 22 fuel for certain consumers, leading to inequities among consumers and 23 regions around the state. Therefore, the legislature hereby declares 24 that while natural market occurrences may lead to price fluctuations, 25 artificial changes in motor fuel prices unfairly harm many consumers 26 around the state. 27 § 7. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 28 have become a law.

Relates to zone pricing of gasoline

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