Section 192-C. Motor fuel standards and labelling; cetane rating of diesel fuel; alcohol content

1. As used in this section, the following  terms  shall have the following meanings:
    a.  "Co-solvent"  means an alcohol with a higher molecular weight than
  methanol which is blended with methanol to prevent phase  separation  in
  gasoline.
    b.  "Diesel  motor fuel" means any fuel sold in this state and for use
  in diesel engines which is commercially known or  offered  for  sale  as
  diesel motor fuel.
    c. "Cetane rating" means the property of a diesel motor fuel expressed
  as  a  number  determined  pursuant  to a method adopted by the American
  Society  of  Testing  and  Materials,  concerning  the  fuel's  ignition
  properties.
    d.  "Gasoline"  means  any fuel sold in this state for use in internal
  combustion engines which is commercially known or offered  for  sale  as
  gasoline.
    e.  "Refiner"  means  a  person, firm or corporation who owns, leases,
  operates, controls or supervises a commercial entity producing  gasoline
  or diesel motor fuel.
    f.  "Distributor" means any person, firm or corporation who purchases,
  transports, stores or causes the transportation or storage  of  gasoline
  or diesel motor fuel at any point between commercial entities.
    g.  "Reseller"  means  any person who purchases gasoline identified by
  the corporate, trade or brand name of a refiner from such refiner  or  a
  distributor  and  resells  or  transfers  it  to  retailers or wholesale
  purchaser-consumers displaying the refiner's brands, and whose assets or
  facilities are not substantially owned, leased  or  controlled  by  such
  refiner.
    h.  "Retailer"  means  a person, firm or corporation who owns, leases,
  operates, controls or supervises a commercial entity at  which  gasoline
  or diesel motor fuel is sold or offered for sale to the general public.
    i.  "Wholesale  purchaser-consumer"  means any organization that is an
  ultimate consumer of gasoline and which purchases  or  obtains  gasoline
  from  a supplier for use in motor vehicles and receives delivery of that
  product into a storage tank which has a capacity of five  hundred  fifty
  gallons  or  more  and  is  substantially  under  the  control  of  that
  organization.
    j. "Ultimate purchaser" means the first person who purchases  gasoline
  for purposes other than resale.
    2. No refiner, distributor, reseller or retailer shall transfer, sell,
  dispense  or offer any grade of diesel motor fuel for sale in this state
  unless said diesel motor fuel meets  the  standards  and  specifications
  established   for   such  product  by  regulations  promulgated  by  the
  commissioner or by the commissioner of environmental conservation, after
  due notice and public hearing.  No  refiner,  distributor,  reseller  or
  retailer  shall  transfer,  sell, dispense or offer gasoline for sale in
  this state unless said gasoline meets the standards and  specifications,
  other  than  those  relating to octane and lead content, established for
  such product by regulations promulgated by the commissioner  or  by  the
  commissioner  of environmental conservation, after due notice and public
  hearing.
    3. a. A refiner, distributor or reseller shall not transfer,  sell  or
  dispense  gasoline  for  sale  in  this  state without delivering to the
  purchaser a bill, invoice or other instrument evidencing the transaction
  which shall indicate:
    (i) the presence of methanol and co-solvent, each as a  percentage  of
  the  total  volume,  if the quantity of methanol exceeds three-tenths of
  one percent; and

    (ii) the presence of ethanol, as a percentage of the total volume,  if
  such quantity exceeds one percent of the total volume.
    b.  A  refiner,  distributor  or  reseller shall not transfer, sell or
  dispense diesel motor fuel in  this  state  without  delivering  to  the
  purchaser a bill, invoice or other instrument evidencing the transaction
  which shall indicate the cetane rating of such diesel motor fuel.
    c.  For  the  purposes  of this section, the instrument evidencing the
  transaction  shall  be  on  such  form  as  may  be  required   by   the
  commissioner.  The  commissioner  shall  consult  with the department of
  taxation and finance and to the extent practicable, the  form  used  for
  certification  of  prepayment of the sales tax and payment of motor fuel
  tax shall be modified and adapted for this purpose, such that said  form
  shall indicate the brand, type and quality of each product delivered.
    4.  a.  A  refiner,  distributor or reseller shall not transfer, sell,
  dispense, or offer gasoline or diesel motor fuel for sale in this  state
  to  a  retailer  unless the refiner, distributor or reseller provides to
  the  retailer  the  materials  necessary  to  comply  with  the  posting
  requirements contained in this section.
    b.  It  shall  be  a  defense  to any violation of paragraph a of this
  subdivision that a refiner, distributor or reseller, if acting  in  good
  faith,  had  reasonable  cause  to  believe  that  the  retailer had the
  materials necessary to comply with the posting requirements contained in
  this section. No common carrier shall be held liable for  any  violation
  of  paragraph  a  of  this  subdivision to the extent that the materials
  necessary to comply with such posting requirements were not  transferred
  to  him  or  her  or his or her agent along with such gasoline or diesel
  motor fuel.
    c. Each retailer shall record, for each day during which  gasoline  or
  diesel  motor fuel is sold or offered for sale to the general public the
  cumulative gallon meter readings for each  retail  petroleum  dispensing
  device  and  the volume contained in each gasoline and diesel motor fuel
  storage tank.  These records shall be maintained for  a  period  of  one
  year.
    5.  a.  A  retailer  or reseller shall not transfer, sell, dispense or
  offer gasoline for sale in this state if it contains more than:
    (i) one percent by total volume of ethanol unless the retail petroleum
  dispensing device displays a sign with at least one-quarter  inch  block
  letters  on  a contrasting background, reading "Contains.....% Ethanol",
  the blank being filled in with the maximum percentage of ethanol in  the
  gasoline; and
    (ii)  three-tenths  of  one percent of total volume of methanol unless
  the retail petroleum dispensing device displays a  sign  with  at  least
  one-quarter  inch  block  letters  on  a  contrasting background reading
  "Contains.....% Methanol" and "Contains.....%  Co-Solvent",  the  blanks
  being  filled  in  with  the  maximum percentage of methanol and minimum
  percentage of co-solvent in the gasoline.
    b. A retailer shall not transfer, sell, dispense or offer diesel motor
  fuel for sale in this  state  unless  the  retail  petroleum  dispensing
  device displays a sign disclosing the minimum cetane rating.
    6.  No  refiner,  distributor, reseller or retailer shall store, sell,
  transfer, dispense or offer for sale gasoline or diesel  motor  fuel  in
  this  state  without having in his or her possession a copy of the bill,
  invoice, or other written instrument evidencing the transaction by which
  such refiner, distributor, reseller or retailer came into possession  of
  the  gasoline  or  diesel  motor  fuel;  provided,  however,  that  this
  requirement shall not apply to refiners  with  respect  to  gasoline  or
  diesel motor fuel which such refiner has produced from crude oil.

    7.  a.  Except  as  otherwise  provided,  any  retailer,  reseller  or
  distributor charged with a violation under this section  may  plead  and
  prove  by  a  preponderance  of  the evidence that the violation was not
  caused by him or her or his or her agent or employee as  an  affirmative
  defense to such charge.
    b.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  this section, a common
  carrier transporting gasoline or diesel motor fuel shall be deemed to be
  liable under the provisions of subdivision two of this section  only  if
  it  is  proved  by  a preponderance of the evidence that a violation was
  caused by him or her or his or her agent or employee.
    8.  a.  The  commissioner  or  his  authorized  representative,   upon
  presentation  of  appropriate credentials, shall have the right to enter
  during regular business hours upon or through the premises  or  property
  of  any  refiner,  distributor, reseller or retailer, and shall have the
  right to make inspections, take samples of  gasoline  and  diesel  motor
  fuel being stored, offered for sale or in the process of being delivered
  or  transported,  and  conduct  tests  during  normal  business hours to
  determine compliance with this section.
    b. The commissioner may require a refiner,  distributor,  reseller  or
  retailer to report information regarding the receipt, transfer, delivery
  or  sale of gasoline and diesel motor fuel and to allow the reproduction
  of that information except that the refiner,  distributor,  reseller  or
  retailer  shall not be required to provide information not maintained in
  the normal course of business, except  as  otherwise  required  in  this
  section.  A  refiner,  distributor,  reseller or retailer shall preserve
  information regarding  the  receipt,  transfer,  delivery,  or  sale  of
  gasoline and diesel motor fuel for one year.
    9.  Any  refiner,  distributor,  reseller  or  retailer  who  or which
  violates this section shall be liable for a civil penalty not to  exceed
  ten thousand dollars for each violation, and for the first violation not
  to  be less than two hundred fifty dollars, and for the second violation
  not to be less than one thousand dollars.  In the case  of  a  violation
  through  continuing failure to comply with any of the provisions of this
  section, or any rules or regulations promulgated thereunder, each day of
  the  continuance  of  such  failure  shall  be  treated  as  a  separate
  violation.    Provided,  however,  that the penalty for any violation of
  paragraph c of subdivision four of this section for failure to keep  the
  required records shall be a maximum two hundred dollar civil penalty for
  the first violation, and a maximum four hundred dollar civil penalty for
  the second and subsequent violations. A right of action for the recovery
  of  a  liability  for  the  civil penalties incurred as provided in this
  section may be released, settled or compromised by the  commissioner  or
  the  director  of  a  municipal  consumer  affairs office or a municipal
  director of weights and measures before the matter is  referred  to  the
  attorney  general  as provided in section forty-four of this chapter, or
  by the attorney for the municipality, as the case may be, and thereafter
  may be released, settled or compromised by the attorney general  or  the
  attorney  for  the  municipality,  as  the case may be, either before or
  after an action is brought to recover such penalty. The commissioner  or
  a  director  of  a  municipal  consumer  affairs  office  or a municipal
  director of weights and measures may apply to  a  court  of  appropriate
  jurisdiction  for  an  injunction  to restrain any person subject to the
  provisions of this section from the further violation of such provisions
  or for such other relief  as  the  court  deems  proper.  Any  plaintiff
  seeking  such  relief  shall not be required to furnish security and the
  costs of the application may be granted in the discretion of the  court.
  The  provisions  of  sections  thirty-nine,  forty and forty-one of this
  chapter shall not apply to a violation described in this subdivision.

    10. Whenever the commissioner or an authorized representative  of  the
  commissioner  shall  find  that  a  refiner,  distributor,  reseller  or
  retailer has transferred, sold, dispensed or offered gasoline or  diesel
  motor  fuel  for  sale  in this state in violation of this section, such
  commissioner  or his authorized representative may exercise any remedies
  authorized by section one  hundred  eighty-five  of  this  article.  Any
  refiner,  distributor,  reseller  or  retailer violating an order issued
  pursuant to this subdivision shall be subject  to  an  additional  civil
  penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars, notwithstanding the penalty
  provisions  of  section forty of this chapter which shall not apply to a
  violation of such order.
    11. The provisions of this section  and  the  regulations  promulgated
  hereunder  may  be  enforced concurrently by the director of a municipal
  consumer affairs office and/or  a  municipal  director  of  weights  and
  measures.  Notwithstanding  the provisions of section forty-five of this
  chapter, all  moneys  collected  hereunder  shall  be  retained  by  the
  municipality.
    12.  Nothing  in this section shall be deemed to limit or restrict the
  authority of the commissioner of  environmental  conservation  to  adopt
  rules  and  regulations that affect the composition, storage, transport,
  handling or commerce of petroleum products for the purpose of preventing
  or decreasing pollution pursuant to the environmental conservation law.
    13. The commissioner shall have the authority to promulgate such rules
  and regulations as the commissioner shall deem necessary  to  effectuate
  the purposes of this section, consistent with its provisions.