[§486J-5] Analysis of information; audits and inspections; summary reports. (a) The department may, with its own staff and other support staff with expertise and experience in, or with, the petroleum industry, gather, analyze, and interpret the information submitted to it pursuant to sections 486J-3 and 486J-4 and other information relating to the supply and price of petroleum products, with particular emphasis on motor vehicle fuels, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The nature, cause, and extent of any petroleum or petroleum products shortage or condition affecting supply;
(2) The economic and environmental impacts of any petroleum and petroleum product shortage or condition affecting supply;
(3) Petroleum or petroleum product demand and supply forecasting methodologies utilized by the petroleum industry in Hawaii;
(4) The prices, with particular emphasis on retail motor fuel prices, and any significant changes in prices charged by the petroleum industry for petroleum or petroleum products sold in Hawaii and the reasons for such changes;
(5) The income, expenses, and profits, both before and after taxes, of the industry as a whole and of major firms within it, including a comparison with other major industry groups and major firms within them as to profits, return on equity and capital, and price- earnings ratio;
(6) The emerging trends relating to supply, demand, and conservation of petroleum and petroleum products;
(7) The nature and extent of efforts of the petroleum industry to expand refinery capacity and to make acquisitions of additional supplies of petroleum and petroleum products; and
(8) The development of a petroleum and petroleum products information system in a manner which will enable the State to take action to meet and mitigate any petroleum or petroleum products shortage or condition affecting supply.
(b) The department may conduct random or periodic audits and inspections of any supplier or suppliers of oil or petroleum products to determine whether they are unnecessarily withholding supplies from the market or are violating applicable policies, laws, or rules. The department may solicit assistance of the department of taxation in any such audit. The department shall cooperate with other state and federal agencies to ensure that any audit or inspection conducted by the department is not duplicative of the data received by any of their audits or inspections which is available to the department.
(c) The department may analyze the impacts of state and federal policies, rules, and regulations upon the supply and pricing of petroleum products.
(d) The department shall publish annually and submit to the governor and the legislature twenty days prior to the first day of the current legislative session a summary, including any analysis and interpretation, of the information submitted to it pursuant to this chapter. Any person may submit comments in writing regarding the accuracy or sufficiency of the information submitted. At the option of the director, this report may be combined with reporting required by section 196-4(11), in the director's role as state energy resources coordinator. [L 1997, c 257, pt of §2]