STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8426 IN SENATE February 28, 2022 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to author- izing the delivery of liquefied petroleum gas in times of emergency The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 192-e of the agriculture and markets law is amended 2 by adding two new subdivisions 6-a and 6-b to read as follows: 3 6-a. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this subdivision: 4 (i) "liquefied petroleum gas tank" shall mean a cylinder, container or 5 receptacle, fixed in place, that is intended to be used to store lique- 6 fied petroleum gas for the purpose of heating, or generating electric 7 power, for a residential customer; 8 (ii) "qualifying emergency" shall mean: 9 (A) a federal, state or local state of emergency has been declared, or 10 federal or state authorities have granted a waiver from hours-of-opera- 11 tions limitations affecting liquefied petroleum gas deliveries; or 12 (B) severe weather or any other similar circumstance exist that may 13 result in an individual being placed in imminent danger of death or 14 injury, or may result in a building structure and/or its fixtures being 15 at risk of significant damage due to lack of residential heat caused by 16 the lack of sufficient liquified petroleum gas to produce residential 17 heat; 18 (iii) "regular supplier" shall mean a person, firm, limited liability 19 company or corporation that owns a liquefied petroleum gas tank and 20 that, pursuant to a current contract, has agreed to supply liquefied 21 petroleum gas to such tank for use by a residential customer or the 22 customer's agent or agents; and 23 (iv) "temporary emergency supplier" shall mean a person, firm, limited 24 liability company or corporation that fills, refills or otherwise deliv- 25 ers liquefied petroleum gas into a liquefied petroleum gas tank it does 26 not own, where such tank is subject to an existing contract between a 27 regular supplier and their customer. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03938-02-1S. 8426 2 1 b. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary, 2 when a qualifying emergency is in effect, a residential customer who has 3 a contract with a regular supplier to fill a liquefied petroleum gas 4 tank reasonably believes the amount of liquefied petroleum gas in their 5 tank will be insufficient to meet the customer's heating needs, the 6 customer shall make a good faith effort to procure delivery of liquefied 7 petroleum gas from such regular supplier. If the regular supplier is 8 unable to make a scheduled delivery or fulfill the customer's good faith 9 request, directly or through another supplier, for delivery within twen- 10 ty-four hours, the customer may arrange to have a temporary emergency 11 supplier fill, refill or otherwise deliver liquefied petroleum gas into 12 such liquefied petroleum gas tank, provided that the temporary emergency 13 supplier ensures that such tank, and the devices and pipelines operated 14 in connection with such tank, have been inspected and certified as 15 required by law and all applicable regulations. 16 c. When a temporary emergency supplier delivers liquefied petroleum 17 gas to a residential customer pursuant to this subdivision, neither such 18 temporary emergency supplier nor such customer's regular supplier may 19 charge any penalty or fee in addition to any filling, refilling or 20 delivery fees that are usually charged to other customers in the course 21 of business under circumstances when paragraph b of this subdivision is 22 not applicable. 23 d. Any contract executed subsequent to the effective date of this 24 subdivision for the supply of liquefied petroleum gas to a residential 25 customer shall include provisions relating to delivery and fees pursuant 26 to paragraphs b and c of this subdivision if applicable. 27 e. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to restrict a liquefied 28 petroleum gas customer who owns a liquefied petroleum gas tank from 29 procuring such gas from any supplier. 30 6-b. The commissioner, in cooperation with the department of law, 31 shall develop a "propane consumer bill of rights" consistent with this 32 section to address the rights of consumers who enter into contracts for 33 the provision and delivery of liquefied petroleum gas, including the 34 right of customers to purchase liquefied petroleum gas from temporary 35 suppliers pursuant to subdivision six-a of this section. Such bill of 36 rights shall be provided by every regular supplier of liquefied petrole- 37 um gas to the consumer when a contract is executed, and then annually 38 while a contract remains in effect and the department shall post such 39 bill of rights on its website. 40 § 2. The commissioner of agriculture and markets shall develop regu- 41 lations consistent with subdivisions six-a and six-b of section 192-e of 42 the agriculture and markets law for the implementation thereof includ- 43 ing, but not limited to, the responsibilities of temporary emergency 44 suppliers and regular suppliers for the safe inspection, testing and 45 filling of liquefied petroleum gas tanks, and any devices and pipelines 46 operated in connection with such tanks, pursuant to such subdivisions 47 and the need for appropriate liability insurance coverage for such 48 suppliers. 49 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 50 it shall have become a law; provided, however that the provisions of 51 this act shall take effect immediately upon the occurrence of a qualify- 52 ing emergency for any customer residing within the geographic limits of 53 such qualifying emergency as declared by federal, state or local author- 54 ities or as otherwise determined by federal or state authorities or the 55 commissioner; and provided that the commissioner of agriculture and 56 markets shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon theS. 8426 3 1 occurrence of a qualifying emergency, if such qualifying emergency 2 occurs within the first 120 days after this act shall have become a law, 3 in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely effec- 4 tive data base of the official text of the laws of the state of New York 5 in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the 6 legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law. Effective 7 immediately the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regu- 8 lation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective 9 date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.