Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/743325
29 Oil Prophets LEGAL CORNER simply something the statute offers little or no help on. I think the Court would consider reasonable and typical margins above that cost to apply. A couple of related issues raised their head just this past weekend during the state of emergency. We had a law enforcement individual tell a location that they couldn't increase their price more than 25 CENTS per gallon during the state of emergency. Obviously, that is not correct. It is a percentage not a cents per gallon increase that is allowed. Also, it is very important that you understand that no law enforcement agency or regulatory body has the authority to shut your facility down on an allegation of price gouging. Apparently, a field inspector from one of our regulators shut down a facility claiming they were price gouging. The Attorney General or a District Attorney would have to seek an injunction in court to close your facility on a price gouging allegation, and that would require notice to you and an opportunity to be heard. I know the Association would certainly like to hear your thoughts about these recurring issues so that we can try correcting them legislatively and in dealing with the Attorney General's Office and our regulators with regard to the statute's enforcement. You know not to hesitate to call me as well. One of the fixes legislatively we accomplished a few years ago to the Emergency Management Act was the problem with the Governor declaring a state of emergency which, once declared, there was no clear end to it. The supply issues, the pricing issues and all issues related to whatever the genesis of the state of emergency was would long since be past, but there was nothing making it clear that the state of emergency was over, and from our standpoint, that the Price Gouging law was no longer in effect. We got that legislation changed to provide that the state of emergency ended 60 days after it was proclaimed just as a matter of law. For it to be extended, the Governor has to affirmatively extend it by proclamation, or the Legislature can do so by joint resolution. Additionally, we got the Legislature to empower the Governor to limit the SOE to the "impacted area" rather than have an SOE automatically apply statewide. This issue crystalized when the Governor proclaimed a SOE – with statewide implication including the statewide application of the price gouging law – over a sinkhole in Cullman County. The obvious question was, "what in the world does a sinkhole in Cullman County have to do with the price of gas in Dothan?" These are the kinds of "fixes" we need to continue to look for as they raise their heads during these states of emergency. Alabama's Unconscionable Pricing Act WWW.PPMCO.COM ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 5555 Bankhead Highway | Birmingham, AL 35210 | 205-836-5650 30704 Sergeant E.I. Boots Thomas Drive | Spanish Fort, AL 36527 | 251-990-9000 Government Retail UST Energy Commercial Manufacturing PROVIDING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES THAT EXCEED OUR CLIENTS' EXPECTATIONS PPM understands the unique environmental challenges facing the petroleum marketing industry.The PPM team will guide you through the regulatory and scientific process associated with soil and groundwater assessment/remediation, compliance, and environmental due diligence.