This act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Motor Fuel Marketing Act.'

In all advertisements, offers for sale or sales involving two or more items, at least one of which items is motor fuel, at a combined price, and in all advertisements, offers of sale, or sales, involving the giving of any gift or concession of any kind whatsoever (whether it be coupons or otherwise), the wholesaler's or retailer's combined selling price shall not be below the cost to the wholesaler or the cost to the retailer, respectively, of the total of all articles, products, commodities, gifts, and concessions included in such transactions, except that if any such articles, products, commodities, gifts, or concessions, shall not be motor fuel, the basic cost thereof shall be determined in like manner as provided in subdivision (14) of Section 8-22-4.

When one wholesaler sells motor fuel to any other wholesaler, the former shall not be required to include in his selling price to the latter 'cost to the wholesaler' as provided by Section 8-22-4, but the latter wholesaler, upon resale to a retailer, shall be subject to the provisions of said section.

(a) The provisions of the Motor Fuel Marketing Act shall not apply to a sale at wholesale or a sale at retail made

(1) In an isolated transaction and not in the usual course of business;

(2) Where motor fuels are advertised, offered for sale, or sold in a bona fide clearance sale for the purpose of discontinuing trade in such motor fuel, and said advertising, offer to sell, or sale shall state the reason thereafter and the quantity of such motor fuel advertised, offered for sale, or to be sold;

(3) Where motor fuel is advertised, offered for sale, or sold as imperfect or damaged, and said advertising, offer of sale or sale shall state the reason therefor and the quantity of such motor fuel advertised, offered for sale, or to be sold;

(4) Where motor fuel is sold upon the final liquidation of a business; or

(5) Where motor fuel is advertised, offered for sale, or sold by any fiduciary or other officer under the order or direction of any court.

(b) The notice required to be given under this section shall not be sufficient unless the subject of such sales is kept separate from other stocks and clearly and legibly marked with the reason for such sales, and any advertisement of such goods must indicate the same facts and the quantity to be sold.

(a) Any wholesaler may advertise, offer to sell, or sell motor fuel at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is rendering the same type service and is selling the same article at cost to the said competing wholesaler as defined in this chapter. Any retailer may advertise, offer to sell, or sell motor fuel at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is selling the same article at cost to the said competing retailer as defined in this chapter. The price of motor fuel advertised, offered for sale, or sold under the exceptions specified in Section 8-22-12 shall not be considered the price of a competitor and shall not be used as a basis for establishing prices below cost, nor shall the price established at a bankrupt sale be considered the price of a competitor within the purview of this section.

(b) In the absence of proof of the actual cost to the said competing wholesaler or the said competing retailer, as the case may be, such cost may be presumed to be the lowest cost to wholesalers or the lowest cost to retailers, as the case may be, within the same market area as determined by a cost survey made pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 8-22-15.

Any contract, express or implied, made by any person in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, is illegal and void and no recovery shall be had thereon.

(a) In determining cost to the wholesaler and cost to the retailer, the court of jurisdiction shall receive and consider as bearing on the bona fides of such cost, evidence tending to show that any person complained against under this chapter purchased the motor fuel involved in the complaint, at a fictitious price, or upon terms, or in such a manner, or under such invoices, as to conceal the true costs, discounts or terms of purchase, and shall also receive and consider as bearing on the bona fides of such costs, evidence of the normal, customary and prevailing terms and discounts in connection with other sales of a similar nature in the market area.

(b) Where a cost survey pursuant to recognized statistical and cost accounting practices has been made for a market area in which a violation of this chapter is committed or charged, to determine and establish on the basis of actual existing conditions the lowest cost to wholesalers or the lowest cost to retailers within the said area, the said cost survey shall be deemed competent evidence in any action or proceeding under this chapter as tending to prove actual cost to the wholesaler or actual cost to the retailer complained against, but any party against whom any such cost survey may be introduced in evidence shall have the right to offer evidence tending to prove any inaccuracy of such cost survey or any state of facts which would impair its probative value.

(a) Any person who violates this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation for each offense. Any such person shall also be liable for attorney fees and shall be subject to injunctive relief. Each day that a violation of this chapter occurs shall be considered as a separate violation.

(b) The penalty may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General, or by any district attorney in any court of competent jurisdiction. If brought by a district attorney, 30 percent of the penalty shall be paid to the office of the district attorney which brought the action and 70 percent of the penalty shall be paid to the treasury of the county in which the judgment was entered. If brought by the Attorney General, one-half of the penalty shall be paid to the treasury of the county where the action was brought and one-half shall be paid to the State Treasury.

(a) Any person injured by any violation, or who would suffer injury from any threatened violation, of this chapter may maintain an action in any court of equity jurisdiction to prevent, restrain, or enjoin such violation or threatened violation. If in such action a violation or threatened violation of this chapter shall be established, the court shall enjoin and restrain, or otherwise prohibit, such violation or threatened violation and, in addition thereto, the court shall assess in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant the costs of suit, including reasonable attorney's fees. In such action it shall not be necessary that actual damages to the plaintiff be alleged or proved, but where alleged and proved, the plaintiff in said action, in addition to such injunctive relief and cost of suit, including reasonable attorney's fees, shall be entitled to recover from the defendant the damages sustained by him.

(b) A person injured as a result of an act or practice which violates this chapter may bring a civil action for appropriate relief, including an action for a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and for actual damages. Any actual damages found to have resulted from violations of this chapter shall be trebled by the court in making its award. Any action under this subsection shall be brought within two years after the alleged violations occurred.

(c) The court, in making an award under subsection (b) of this section, may award court costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party.

(d) The courts of this state are empowered with jurisdiction to hear and determine all cases brought under this section. Venue lies in any county where the defendant or any of them resides or does business or where the cause of action accrues.

In any action brought under Sections 8-22-15, 8-22-16 or 8-22-17, upon a prima facie showing of a violation, the burden of rebutting the prima facie case thus made by showing justification shall shift to the defendant. A prima facie showing of a violation shall be constituted if the plaintiff shows:

(1) That the plaintiff's purchase price from a refiner or wholesaler is greater than said refiner's transfer price; or

(2) That the plaintiff's purchase price from a refiner or wholesaler plus the plaintiff's cost of doing business is greater than said refiner's or wholesaler's retail posted sales price; or

(3) That the plaintiff's basic cost of motor fuel plus the plaintiff's cost of doing business is greater than the posted sales price at a retail location of a competitor, within the plaintiff's marketing area, suspected of selling motor fuel in violation of this chapter.

The Legislature makes the following findings with respect to the marketing of motor fuel in Alabama:

(1) Marketing of motor fuel is affected with the public interest.

(2) Unfair competition in the marketing of motor fuel occurs whenever costs associated with the marketing of motor fuel are recovered from other operations, allowing the refined motor fuel to be sold at subsidized prices. Such subsidies most commonly occur in one of three ways: when refiners use profits from refining of crude oil to cover below normal or negative returns earned from motor fuel marketing operations; where a marketer with more than one location uses profits from one location to cover losses from below-cost selling of motor fuel at another location; and where a business uses profits from nonmotor fuel sales to cover losses from below-cost selling of motor fuel.

(3) Independent motor fuel marketers (i.e., dealers, distributors, jobbers, and wholesalers) are unable to survive predatory subsidized pricing at the marketing level by persons when all of an independent's income comes from marketing operations.

(4) Subsidized pricing is inherently predatory and is reducing competition in the petroleum industry, and if it continues unabated, will ultimately threaten the consuming public.

It is hereby declared that marketing of motor fuel in Alabama is affected with the public interest. It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent to encourage fair and honest competition, and to safeguard the public against creation of monopolies or unfair methods of competition, in transactions involving the sale of, or offer to sell, or inducement to sell motor fuel in the wholesale and retail trades in this state. It is further declared that the advertising, offering for sale, or sale of motor fuel below cost or at a cost lower than charged other persons on the same marketing level with the intent of injuring competitors or destroying or substantially lessening competition is an unfair and deceptive trade practice. The policy of the state is to promote the general welfare through the prohibition of such sales. The purpose of the Motor Fuel Marketing Act is to carry out that policy in the public interest, providing for exceptions under stated circumstances, providing for enforcement and providing penalties.

The following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section unless otherwise stated and unless the context or subject matter clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) PERSON. Any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, joint stock company, company, corporation, or legal entity.

(2) MOTOR FUEL. Those products upon which the state excise tax levied, or defined, in Sections 40-17-1 through 40-17-52 and 40-17-170, as amended, is imposed.

(3) WHOLESALER. Includes any person qualified as a wholesaler of motor fuel with the state Revenue Commissioner, and shall also mean and include any person, other than a buying pool defined herein, wherever resident or located, who brings or causes to be brought into this state motor fuel purchased directly from the manufacturer thereof.

(4) WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION. Any person, or the act of any person, including any affiliate of such person, in commerce within the state, who purchases motor fuel for sale, consignment or distribution to another, or, receives motor fuel on consignment for consignment or distribution to his own motor fuel accounts or to accounts of his supplier, but shall not include a person who is an employee of, or merely serves as, a common carrier providing transportation services for such supplier.

(5) RETAILER. Includes any person who is engaged in this state in the business of selling motor fuel at retail to the general public for ultimate consumption, and includes any group of persons, cooperative organizations, buying pools and any other person or group purchasing motor fuel on a cooperative basis from licensed distributors or wholesalers.

(6) BUYING POOL. Includes any combination, corporation, association, affiliation or group of retail dealers operating jointly in the purchase, sale, exchange or barter of motor fuel, the profits of which accrue directly or indirectly to such retail dealers.

(7) SALE or SELL. Any transfer for a combination, exchange, barter, gift, offer for sale, advertising for sale, soliciting an order for motor fuel and distribution in any manner or by any means whatsoever.

(8) SELL AT WHOLESALE, SALE AT WHOLESALE and WHOLESALES. Includes any sale made in the ordinary course of trade or usual conduct of the wholesaler's business to a retailer for the purpose of resale.

(9) SELL AT RETAIL, SALE AT RETAIL and RETAIL SALES. Includes any sale for consumption or use in the ordinary course of trade or usual conduct of the seller's business.

(10) CUSTOMARY DISCOUNT FOR CASH. Includes any allowance, whether a part of a larger discount or not, made to a wholesaler or retailer when such person pays for motor fuel within a limited or specified time.

(11) REFINER. Any person engaged in the production or refining of motor fuel, whether such production or refining occurs in this state or elsewhere, and includes any affiliate of such person.

(12) COST TO REFINER. That refiner's posted terminal price to the wholesale class of trade. In the event a refiner does not regularly sell to the wholesale class of trade at that terminal or does not post such a terminal price, it may use as its cost the posted price of any other refiner at any terminal within the general trade area which has products readily available for sale to the wholesale class of trade.

(13) COMPETITION. Includes any person who competes with another person in the same market area at the same level of distribution.

(14) BASIC COST OF MOTOR FUEL. Whichever of the two following amounts is lower, namely, (i) the invoice cost of motor fuel to the wholesaler or retailer, as the case may be, or (ii) the lowest replacement cost of motor fuel to the wholesaler or retailer, as the case may be, within five days prior to the date of sale, in the quantity last purchased (whether within or before the said five-day period), less, in either of said two cases, all trade discounts except customary discounts for cash, plus the full value of freight costs and any taxes which may be required by law, now in effect or hereafter enacted, if not already included in the invoice cost of the motor fuel to the wholesaler or retailer, as the case may be. In computing its basic cost of motor fuel, its cost of doing business and in meeting competition under Section 8-22-8; a refiner that assesses a processing fee of any kind for credit card transactions must assess such fees in a like manner to its affiliates.

(15) COST TO WHOLESALER. As applied to wholesale distribution, the invoice or replacement cost of the motor fuel within five days prior to the date of sale, in the quantity last purchased, whichever is less, less all trade discounts except customary discounts for cash, to which shall be added all applicable state, federal and local taxes, inspection fees, freight charges not otherwise included in the cost of motor fuel, cartage to the retail outlet, if paid by the wholesaler, plus the cost of doing business.

(16) COST TO RETAILER. As applied to retail sales, the invoice or replacement cost of the motor fuel within five days prior to the date of sale, in the quantity last purchased, whichever is less, less all trade discounts except customary discounts for cash, to which shall be added all applicable state, federal and local taxes, inspection fees, freight cost, if paid by the retailer, plus the cost of doing business.

(17) COST OF DOING BUSINESS or OVERHEAD EXPENSES. Includes all costs incurred in the conduct of business, including but not limited to: labor (including salaries of executives and officers), rent (which rent must be no less than fair market value based on current use), interest on borrowed capital, depreciation, selling cost, maintenance of equipment, transportation or freight cost, losses due to breakage or damage; credit card fees, or other charges; credit losses, all types of licenses, taxes, insurance, and advertising.

(18) TRANSFER PRICE. Includes the price used by a person in transferring motor fuel to itself or an affiliate for resale at another marketing level. Such price shall be determined using standard, functional accounting procedures.

(19) AFFILIATE. Any person who (other than by means of franchise) controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, any other person.

All persons engaged in commerce in this state are required to disclose, upon request, their transfer prices on each grade of motor fuel transferred or sold to itself or an affiliate for resale at another marketing level of distribution. Such disclosure shall only be made to those persons affected by such transfer prices or in any legal proceedings arising from this chapter.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce in this state to sell or offer to sell motor fuel below cost or to sell or offer to sell it at a price lower than the seller charges other persons on the same day and on the same level of distribution, within the same market area, where the effect is to injure competition.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce in this state to sell or transfer motor fuel to itself or an affiliate for resale at another marketing level of distribution at a transfer price that is below cost or lower than the price it charges a person who purchases for resale on the same day and at the same distribution level, within the same market area, where the effect is to injure competition.

(a) It is not a violation of this chapter if a difference exists between the transfer price or sales price of motor fuel of like grade and quality and the price charged to a person who purchases for resale at the same level of distribution, including any discounts, rebates, allowances, services, facilities granted any of a supplier's own marketing operations in excess of those provided to a person who purchases for resale at the same level of distribution, if the lower price is due to a cost differential incurred because of a difference in shipping method, transportation, marketing, sale or quantity, in which such motor fuel is sold.

(b) It is not a violation of this chapter if any price is established in good faith to meet an equally low price of a competitor in the same market area on the same level of distribution selling the same or a similar product of like grade and quality or is exempt under Section 8-22-13.

It shall be unlawful under this section:

(1) For any person engaged in commerce in this state to sell or offer to sell motor fuel at wholesale or retail, as the case may be, where the effect is to injure competition.

(2) For any person, where the effect is to injure competition, to offer a rebate, to offer to give a rebate, to offer a concession of any kind in connection with the sale of motor fuel.

(3) For any retailer to induce or attempt to induce or to procure or attempt to procure the purchase of motor fuel at a price less than cost to wholesaler. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be subject to the provisions and penalties of this chapter.