Senators seek repeal of 2007 EISA provision

June 7, 2013
US Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced legislation to repeal a provision in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) that bars federal purchases of transportation fuel produced from coal, oil sands, and oil shale.

US Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced legislation to repeal a provision in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) that bars federal purchases of transportation fuel produced from coal, oil sands, and oil shale.

The senators said their bill, S. 1100, would repeal EISA Sect. 526, which prevents federal agencies, including US military services, from contracting for alternative fuels unless the contract specifies that the alternative fuel emits less greenhouse gas than fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources.

That effectively precludes federal transportation purchases of transportation fuel produced from coal, oil shale, and oil sands, the two Energy and Natural Resources Committee members said on June 6.

Cosponsors included Sens. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), James N. Inhofe (R-Okla.), and John Hoeven (R-ND).

The American Petroleum Institute said it supports S. 1100. “Any law that threatens the use of one of the most secure sources of oil—Canadian oil sands—jeopardizes our national security and simply defies logic,” said Khary Cauthen, API’s senior federal relations director.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].