§ 6234. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

(a) Establishment

A Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the storage of up to 1 billion barrels of petroleum products shall be created pursuant to this part.

(b) Authority of Secretary

The Secretary, in accordance with this part, shall exercise authority over the development, operation, and maintenance of the Reserve.

(c) to (e) Repealed. Pub. L. 106–469, title I, § 103(7)(C), Nov. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 2030

(f) Purpose of drawdown and distribution; requests for funds for storage

(1) The drawdown and distribution of petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is authorized only under section 6241 of this title, and drawdown and distribution of petroleum products for purposes other than those described in section 6241 of this title shall be prohibited.

(2) In the Secretary’s annual budget submission, the Secretary shall request funds for acquisition, transportation, and injection of petroleum products for storage in the Reserve. If no requests for funds are made, the Secretary shall provide a written explanation of the reason therefore.

(Pub. L. 94–163, title I, § 154, Dec. 22, 1975, 89 Stat. 882; Pub. L. 95–619, title VI, § 691(b)(2), Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3288; Pub. L. 102–486, title XIV, § 1402, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2994; Pub. L. 105–177, § 1(6), June 1, 1998, 112 Stat. 106; Pub. L. 106–469, title I, § 103(7), Nov. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 2030.)

Amendments

Amendments

2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–469, § 103(7)(A), amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) provided for the creation of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve of up to 1 billion barrels of petroleum products and required that the Reserve contain not less than 150 million barrels of petroleum products by the end of the 3-year period beginning on Dec. 22, 1975, and that the President take actions to enlarge the Reserve to 1,000,000,000 barrels as rapidly as possible beginning Oct. 24, 1992.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–469, § 103(7)(B), amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: “The Secretary, not later than December 15, 1976, shall prepare and transmit to the Congress, in accordance with section 6421 of this title, a Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan. Such Plan shall comply with the provisions of this section and shall detail the Secretary’s proposals for designing, constructing, and filling the storage and related facilities of the Reserve.”

Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 106–469, § 103(7)(C), struck out subsecs. (c) to (e) which related to the levels of crude oil to be stored, plan objectives, and plan provisions.

1998—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 105–177 added subsec. (f).

1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–486 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

1978—Subsecs. (b), (d). Pub. L. 95–619 substituted “Secretary” and “Secretary’s” for “Administrator” and “Administrator’s”, respectively, meaning Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, wherever appearing.

Miscellaneous

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Drawdown Plan

Pub. L. 97–229, § 4(c), Aug. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 252, provided that: “On or before December 1, 1982, the President shall transmit to the Congress a drawdown plan for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve consistent with the requirements of section 154 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act [this section]. Such plan shall be transmitted to the Congress as an amendment to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan. Such amendment shall take effect on the date it is transmitted to the Congress and shall not be subject to section 159(e) of such Act [section 6239(e) of this title] relating to Congressional review. Subsequent amendments to such plan shall be in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of such section 159.”