By OGJ editors
WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 19 -- The US House Tuesday voted 246-180 to finalize an omnibus energy bill more than 2 years in the making. It largely follows the May 2001 White House energy blueprint with two large exceptions: it dramatically expands domestic drilling incentives including royalty holidays, and it does not include a provision to allow leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (OGJ Online, Nov. 16, 2003).
The measure does include as much as $18 billion in a federally backed loan guarantee for an Alaskan natural gas export line to the Lower 48. But the Secretary of the Department of the Interior has wide discretion on where the money can be spent. The bill does not include the "commodity risk" provision sought by Alaska North Slope producers to keep shipments profitable even under a supply glut.
The Senate was poised Wednesday to take action on the bill; a modified version endorsed by House and Senate Republican leaders was voted out of a House-Senate conference late Sunday. Parliamentary rules prevent any more amendments from lawmakers although a senator could theoretically stop the bill by talking it to death through a filibuster.
The White House supports the bill even though total energy tax provisions—including production and efficiency—are nearly three times what the administration said it wanted over a 10 year period. Republican congressional leaders promised legislation will be on President George W. Bush's desk before the Thanksgiving holiday next week. Congress is expected to adjourn by Nov. 23 after it finishes the last of several annual spending bills.
In a letter Tuesday to energy bill comanager Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill, HR 6, would increase direct spending by $3.7 billion during 2004-08 and by $5.4 billion from 2004-13. CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation further estimate that the act would reduce revenues by $17.4 billion over 2004-08 and by $25.7 billion during 2004-13.
With a deal essentially in place since last week, only a handful of amendments survived the final conference committee markup Monday. One controversial clean air provision did however make its way in to the bill at the last minute, voted in along party lines.
Rep. Joe Barton's (R-Tex.) measure calls on the US Environmental Protection Agency to extend ozone attainment deadlines if the agency finds that an area is affected by pollution from an upwind area.
Of key interest to fuel suppliers was the fact that the conference committee did not alter the clean fuel title. Provisions such as ethanol mandates and limited liability for methyl tertiary butyl ether producers stirred up controversy, with the MTBE liability language especially contentious—several Northeast senators come from states that blame water contamination problems on the additive.
Some of these senators have threatened to try and kill the bill specifically because of the liability provision but the chances of that happening appeared remote given Republican leaders seemed confident they have the 60 votes needed to shut down debate.
