2010 Pennsylvania Code
Title 75 - VEHICLES
Chapter 90 - Liquid Fuels and Fuels Tax
9003 - Liquid fuels and fuels permits; bond or deposit of securities.

     § 9003.  Liquid fuels and fuels permits; bond or deposit of
                securities.
        (a)  Permit required; violation.--A distributor may not
     engage in the use or sale and delivery of liquid fuels within
     this Commonwealth without a liquid fuels permit or engage in the
     use or sale and delivery of fuels within this Commonwealth
     without a fuels permit. Each day in which a distributor engages
     in the use or sale and delivery of liquid fuels within this
     Commonwealth without a liquid fuels permit or fuels without a
     fuels permit shall constitute a separate offense. For each such
     offense, the distributor commits a misdemeanor of the third
     degree.
        (b)  Application.--A person desiring to operate as a
     distributor shall file an application for a liquid fuels permit
     or a fuels permit, or both, with the department. The application
     for a permit must be made upon a form prescribed by the
     department and must set forth the name under which the applicant
     transacts or intends to transact business, the location of the
     place of business within this Commonwealth and such other
     information as the department may require. If the applicant has
     or intends to have more than one place of business within this
     Commonwealth, the application shall state the location of each
     place of business. If the applicant is an association, the
     application shall set forth the names and addresses of the
     persons constituting the association. If the applicant is a
     corporation, the application shall set forth the names and
     addresses of the principal officers of the corporation and any
     other information prescribed by the department for purposes of
     identification. The application shall be signed and verified by
     oath or affirmation by:
            (1)  the owner, if the applicant is an individual;
            (2)  a member or partner, if the applicant is an
        association; or
            (3)  an officer or an individual authorized in a writing
        attached to the application, if the applicant is a
        corporation.
        (c)  Permit issuance.--Upon approval of the application and
     the bond required in subsection (d), the department shall grant
     and issue to each distributor a permit for each place of
     business within this Commonwealth set forth in the application.
     Permits shall not be assignable and shall be valid only for the
     distributors in whose names they are issued. Permits shall be
     valid only for the transaction of business at the places
     designated. Permits shall be conspicuously displayed at the
     places for which they are issued. A permit shall expire on the
     May 31 next succeeding the date upon which it was issued.
        (d)  Surety bond.--A permit shall not be granted until the
     applicant has filed with the department a surety bond payable to
     the Commonwealth in an amount fixed by the department of at
     least $2,500. Every bond must have as surety an authorized
     surety company approved by the department. The bond must state
     that the distributor will faithfully comply with the provisions
     of this chapter during the effective period of his permit. The
     department may require any distributor to furnish such
     additional, acceptable corporate surety bond as necessary to
     secure at all times the payment to the Commonwealth of all
     taxes, penalties and interest due under the provisions of this
     chapter and section 9502 (relating to imposition of tax). If a
     distributor fails to file the additional bond within ten days
     after written notice from the department, the department may
     suspend or revoke the permit and collect all taxes, penalties
     and interest due. For the purpose of determining whether an
     existing bond is sufficient, the department may by written
     notice require a distributor to furnish a financial statement in
     such form as it may prescribe. Upon failure of any distributor
     to furnish a financial statement within 30 days of written
     notice, the department may suspend or revoke the permit and
     shall collect all taxes, penalties and interest due by him.
        (d.1)  Waiver of surety bond.--
            (1)  The department shall waive the bond required by
        subsection (d) with respect to retail sales of kerosene sold
        for private household use.
            (2)  The department may waive the bond required by
        subsection (d) with respect to a class of distributors if the
        department finds that the cost of bonding to that class is
        excessive when compared to the risk of loss to the
        Commonwealth.
        (e)  Surety discharge.--A surety on a bond furnished by a
     distributor as provided in this section shall be released and
     discharged from liability to the Commonwealth accruing on the
     bond after the expiration of 60 days from the date upon which
     such surety shall have lodged with the department a written
     request to be released and discharged. This provision shall not
     operate to relieve, release or discharge the surety from
     liability already accrued or which shall accrue before the
     expiration of the 60-day period. The department shall, upon
     receiving any such request, notify the distributor who furnished
     the bond. Unless the distributor, on or before the expiration of
     the 60-day period, files with the department a new bond, with
     corporate surety approved by and acceptable to the department,
     the department shall cancel the distributor's permit or permits.
     If a new bond is furnished by a distributor, the department
     shall cancel and surrender the old bond of the distributor as
     soon as it and the Office of Attorney General are satisfied that
     all liability under the old bond has been fully discharged.
        (f)  Renewal.--Permits issued under the provisions of this
     chapter may be renewed annually, before June 1, upon an
     application being made to the department. No permit shall be
     renewed until the applicant files with the department a new
     surety bond in an amount fixed by the department and conditioned
     that the distributor will faithfully comply with the provisions
     of this chapter and section 9502.
        (g)  Interstate or foreign commerce.--Nothing contained in
     this chapter shall require the filing of any application or bond
     or the possession and display of a liquid fuels permit for the
     use or sale and delivery of liquid fuels in interstate or
     foreign commerce not within the taxing power of the Commonwealth
     or for the use of liquid fuels by the Federal Government.
        (h)  Financial guarantees.--Any person required by the
     provisions of this section to file a surety bond may, in lieu of
     the bond, deposit with the State Treasurer bonds of the United
     States or of the Commonwealth, the par value of which is the
     amount of the surety bond required of such person, or present to
     the State Treasurer satisfactory evidence of financial
     guarantees in the form of an irrevocable letter of credit from a
     financial institution authorized to do business in this
     Commonwealth. The treasurer shall issue to the person a
     certificate of such deposit or financial guarantee. The person
     shall file the certificate with the department. Its securities
     or letter of credit deposited with the State Treasurer shall be
     held as a guarantee that the holder of the permit shall
     faithfully comply with the provisions of this chapter and
     section 9502 during the effective period of the permit. The
     securities or letter of credit shall be retained by the State
     Treasurer for a period of 60 days after the termination of the
     permit, and such securities or letter of credit shall not be
     released from any liability to the Commonwealth already accrued
     or which shall accrue before the expiration of the 60-day
     period. At the end of the 60-day period, the securities or
     letter of credit shall be returned to their owner only if all
     claims of the Commonwealth guaranteed by the deposit have been
     fully satisfied.
        (i)  Penalties.--Any person that assigns a permit or fails to
     display conspicuously a permit at the place for which it is
     issued commits a summary offense.
     (Dec. 21, 1998, P.L.1126, No.151, eff. 60 days)

        1998 Amendment.  Act 151 added subsec. (d.1).
        Cross References.  Section 9003 is referred to in section
     9405 of this title.