WATCHING WASHINGTON NES MEASURES PILE UP

Proposals for National Energy Strategy legislation continue to pile up in Congress, which is considering them with no sense of great urgency.

Action will occur first in the Senate energy committee, where Chairman Bennett Johnston (D-La.) plans to begin marking up a bill in mid-April.

His committee has ended a quick series of hearings on energy policy, focusing on the administration's NES proposal and a bill Johnston and Malcolm Wallop (R-Wyo.), the ranking Republican on the panel, introduced.

What the Senate energy committee approves probably will be similar to Johnston-Wallop. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alas.) thinks Johnston has enough votes on the committee to approve leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Coastal Plain, upon which Johnston-Wallop is based.

OTHER BILLS

Also in the Senate, Tim Wirth (D-Colo.) has introduced his energy policy bill, but it omits ANWR drilling.

Wirth also differs from the administration and Johnston-Wallop in that he would toughen fuel efficiency requirements for new U.S. autos, saving an estimated 2.5 million b/d of oil by 2000.

His bill would allow independent producers to deduct their drilling expenses from the alternative minimum tax, offer a tax credit to help keep stripper wells on production, and encourage enhanced oil recovery projects.

Referring to the administration's NES, Wirth said, "Many of the best proposals recommended by the Department of Energy were whittled away until little was left but a blind faith that a 'hands off' energy policy will result in energy independence. This simply ignores the steady erosion of our energy independence that occurred throughout the 1980s."

Sen. James Jeffords (R-Vt.) refiled his alternative fuels bill. Beginning in 1996, refiners would be required to substitute an increasing percentage of their petroleum products with alternative or replacement fuels, the latter being those that can be blended with gasoline.

In the House, energy and power subcommittee Chairman Phil Sharp (D-Ind.) continued his series of energy policy bills with a pipeline safety measure.

It would allow the Transportation Department to consider environmental protection, as well as safety considerations, in its rules. The bill requires the use of smart pigs to evaluate all pipelines in highly populated areas.

Sharp has conducted several energy policy hearings this session and plans 13 more soon.

ANOTHER VERSION

Republicans on Sharp's subcommittee want to see faster action and have introduced their own wide ranging bill.

It is similar to the administration's NES plan but does more to encourage conservation and renewable fuels, offering tax incentives and rebates for energy efficiency gains.

Other differences include a requirement that 1 0% of new autos be able to burn alternative fuels by 2000, a 15% tax credit for wildcat expenditures. It also calls for a 15% credit for marginal well operating costs and a tar sands production tax credit.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) complained, "President Bush has an energy package on the table. House Republicans have an energy package on the table. House Democrats have nothing on the table. Unfortunately, around here, it's their table."