H. B. 4544

(By Delegates Amores, C. White, Ashley,

Coleman and Staton)


[Introduced February 20, 2002; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section eleven, article one, chapter forty-seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting certain gasoline price discounting practices; prohibiting certain practices as violations of weight and measure laws; authorizing legislative and procedural rules; and, providing for injunctive relief of violations.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eleven, article one, and section six, article eleven-a of chapter forty-seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, to read as follows:
CHAPTER 47. REGULATION OF TRADE
ARTICLE 1. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
§ 47-1-11. Requirements for motor fuel.
(a) The uniform regulation for motor fuel as adopted by the national conference on weights and measures and published in national institute of standards and technology handbook 130, "Uniform Laws and Regulations" and supplements thereto and revisions thereof, shall apply to motor fuel quality in the state, except insofar as modified or rejected by legislative rule.
(b) It shall be a unfair and deceptive dealing by weight and measure to price gasoline pursuant to section nineteen of this article to provide discounts that allow the selling of gasoline below minimum markup as required by law. In addition to the civil penalties provided in section twenty-two of this article, the commissioner may by civil action enjoin the person from further gas pricing reductions . The commissioner is authorized to promulgate legislative rules, pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to effectuate the provisions of this subsection.
 NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make it a violation of the weights and measures law to sell gasoline below lawful price limits.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.