CHAPTER 68 Substitute for HOUSE BILL No. 2036 An  Act concerning petroleum products; relating to diesel fuel; misrepresentations regard-
ing biodiesel; penalties; fuel purchases for state motor vehicles; amending K.S.A. 2002
Supp. 55-443 and repealing the existing section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

      Section  1. K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 55-443 is hereby amended to read as
follows: 55-443. (a) It is a violation for any person to:

      (1) Act as or represent such person's self to be a technical represen-
tative without having a valid license issued by the department of agricul-
ture;

      (2) hinder or obstruct in any way the secretary or any of the secre-
tary's authorized agents in the performance of the secretary's official du-
ties under the petroleum products inspection law;

      (3) failure to follow the applicable version of NIST Handbook as re-
ferenced in chapter 83 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amend-
ments thereto, or any rules and regulations adopted thereunder when
installing, repairing, calibrating or testing a device;

      (4) failure to complete the testing or placing-in-service report in its
entirety and to report the accurate description of the parts replaced, ad-
justed, reconditioned or work performed;

      (5) filing a false or fraudulent application or report to the secretary;

      (6) failure to pay all fees and penalties as prescribed by the petroleum
products inspection law and the rules and regulations adopted and prom-
ulgated pursuant to the petroleum products inspection law;

      (7) refuse to keep and make available for examination by the depart-
ment of agriculture all books, papers, and other information necessary for
the enforcement of the petroleum products inspection law or chapter 83
of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto;

      (8) failure to have any commercial dispensing device tested as re-
quired by the petroleum products inspection law or chapter 83 of the
Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto;

      (9) sell, offer or expose for sale any petroleum product which does
not comply with the provisions of the petroleum products inspection law;

      (10) sell, use, remove, otherwise dispose of or fail to remove from
the premises specified, any dispensing device, package or commodity con-
trary to the terms of any order issued by the secretary; and

      (11) represent that diesel fuel is or contains biodiesel fuel blend or
otherwise to represent that diesel fuel is made from renewable resources,
unless not less than 2% of the diesel fuel mixture is mono-alkyl esters
derived from vegetable oil, recycled cooking oil or animal fat. Biodiesel
fuel used in biodiesel fuel blends shall conform with specification D6751-
02, issued March 2002, by the American society of testing and materials
or a later version as adopted by rules and regulations of the secretary. If
a retail petroleum marketer is alleged to have violated the provisions of
this subsection, it shall be a defense, that the retail petroleum marketer
relied in good faith upon the bill of lading; and

      (12) violate any order issued by the secretary pursuant to chapter 83
of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto.

      (b) Any person who violates any provision of the petroleum products
inspection law or any applicable provisions of chapter 83 of the Kansas
Statutes Annotated, or amendments thereto, or any rules and regulations
adopted thereunder, in addition to any other penalty provided by law,
may incur a civil penalty imposed under subsection (c) in an amount,
fixed by rules and regulations of the secretary, of not less than $100 nor
more than $5,000 for each such violation and, in the case of a continuing
violation, every day such violation continues shall be deemed a separate
violation.

      (c) In determining the amount of the civil penalty, the following shall
be taken into consideration: (1) The extent of harm caused by the viola-
tion; (2) the nature and persistence of the violation; (3) the length of time
over which the violation occurs; (4) any corrective actions taken; and (5)
any and all relevant circumstances.

      (d) All civil penalties assessed shall be due and payable within 10 days
after written notice of assessment is served on the person, unless a longer
period of time is granted by the secretary. If a civil penalty is not paid
within the applicable time period, the secretary may file a certified copy
of the notice of assessment with the clerk of the district court in the
county where the weighing and measuring device or dispensing device is
located. The notice of assessment shall be enforced in the same manner
as a judgment of the district court.

      (e) No civil penalty shall be imposed pursuant to this section except
upon the written order of the duly authorized agent of the secretary to
the person who committed the violation or to the person whose agent or
employee committed the violation. Such order shall state the violation,
the penalty to be imposed and the right of the person to appeal to the
secretary. Any such person, within 20 days after notification, may make
written request to the secretary for a hearing in accordance with the
provisions of the Kansas administrative procedure act. The secretary shall
affirm, reverse or modify the order and shall specify the reasons therefor.

      (f) Any person aggrieved by an order of the secretary made under
this section may appeal such order to the district court in the manner
provided by the act for judicial review and civil enforcement of agency
actions.

      (g) An appeal to the district court or to an appellate court shall not
stay the payment of the civil penalty.

      (h) Any civil penalty recovered pursuant to the provisions of this sec-
tion or any penalty recovered under the consumer protection act for vi-
olations of this section, and amendments thereto, or any rules and regu-
lations adopted thereunder, shall be remitted to the state treasurer in
accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, and amendments
thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state treasurer shall
deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit of the weights
and measures fee fund.

      (i) This section shall be part of and supplemental to the petroleum
products inspection act, article 4 of chapter 55 of the Kansas Statutes
Annotated, and amendments thereto.

      New Sec.  2. (a) As used in this section, ``motor-vehicle fuels'' has the
meaning provided by K.S.A. 79-3401, and amendments thereto.

      (b) All bulk motor-vehicle fuels purchased by any state agency, as
defined in K.S.A. 75-3701, and amendments thereto, in each fiscal year
for use in state-owned motor vehicles shall be motor-vehicle fuels blends
containing at least 10% ethanol. No state agency shall spend more than
ten cents per gallon more on fuel blends containing at least 10% ethanol
than the current price per gallon of regular fuel on bulk motor vehicle
fuel purchases.

      (c) Where available under current state purchasing agreements, in-
dividual motor-vehicle fuel purchases for state-owned motor vehicles
shall be of motor-vehicle fuels blends containing at least 10% ethanol.
Individual motor vehicle fuel purchases for state-owned motor vehicles
shall not be more than 10 cents per gallon more on fuel blends containing
at least 10% ethanol than the current price per gallon of regular fuel.

      (d) Where available, and as long as the price is no greater than 10
cents more per gallon than the price of diesel fuel, a 2% or higher blend
of biodiesel must be purchased for use in state-owned diesel powered
vehicles and equipment.

      Sec.  3. K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 55-443 is hereby repealed.

      Sec.  4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.

Approved April 14, 2003.
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