PETITION OF:

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately provide fuel oil assistance to low income residents of the commonwealth, therefore it is hereby declared an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Section 1. Chapter 10 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after Section 8A, the following new section:—

8B.There shall be established upon the books of the commonwealth a separate fund known as the Fuel Oil Assistance Fund consisting of all revenues received by the commonwealth under the provisions of section thirty of chapter twenty-three B of the General Laws. All revenues credited to said Fund under this section shall remain in said Fund, not subject to appropriation, to be used for the purposes set forth in said section thirty-one. The state treasurer shall deposit monies in said Fund in accordance with the provisions of sections thirty-four and thirty-four A of chapter twenty-nine in such a manner as will secure the highest interest rates available consistent with the safety of the fund with the requirement that all amounts on deposit shall be available for immediate withdrawal at any time. The state treasurer shall not deposit said revenues in, or transfer said revenues to, the General Fund or any other fund other than the Fuel Oil Assistance Fund.

SECTION 2. Chapter 23B of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, after section 29, the following four new sections:—
Section 30. As used in sections thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two and thirty-three the following terms shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:—
“Department”, the department of community affairs.
“Fuel Oil”, an oil product and distillate derivative known as Number 2 oil used in the space heating of residences.
“Low income home energy assistance program” (LIHEAP), the federally funded grant program administered by the executive office of communities and development which distributes money to assist eligible low income households in the payment of energy costs.
“Weatherization assistance for low income persons program”, the federally funded grant program administered by the executive office of communities and development that provides conservation and weatherization services to eligible low income households.
“Wholesale oil vendor”, any person, corporation or firm or any part or subsidiary of any person, corporation or firm doing business in the commonwealth which supplies, sells, transfers or otherwise furnishes fuel oil to resellers.

Section 31. Wholesale oil venders shall pay on a monthly basis, the amount of one half of one cent on each gallon of fuel oil sold for retail by said wholesale oil vendors in the commonwealth and such monies shall be deposited with the state treasurer in the Fuel Oil Assistance Fund established by section sixty-two of Chapter 10. No payment shall be required on (a) fuel oil with is sold in the commonwealth for transport and sale outside the commonwealth, or (b) on sales between wholesale oil vendors.

Section 32. There shall be a Fuel Oil Assistance Fund set up in department of community affairs. The monies in said Fund shall be distributed pursuant to a program which shall be established and implemented by said department; provided, however, that any monies distributed under said program shall only be used for the payment of Number 2 fuel oil bills for low income households; and, provided further, that none of the monies deposited into the Fuel Oil Assistance Fund shall be used to reduce or diminish, in any way, the percentage of funds distributed, under the LIHEAP program for fiscal year two thousand and three, to fuel users as compared to the total amount of funds distributed under said program. For the purposes of this program, the standard which shall be used to determine “low income” eligibility shall be the same standard as the one used for the distribution of funds under the LIHEAP program.
Any surplus in said Fund may be used for the purposes of the “weatherization assistance for low income persons program”; provided, however, that any conservation and weatherization services provided as a result of funds from this surplus shall only be provided to oil heated, low-income households.

Section 33. The department shall promulgate rules, regulations and guidelines for the implementation of this program within thirty days of enactment of this legislation.