Omnibus energy legislation remained so solidly stuck in Senate procedures last week that observers began to ask whether the bill was mired in quicksand.
The Senate needs to send the bill to a conference committee with the House, but filibuster threats prompted Senate leaders to schedule a cloture vote to shut off any debate.
That, in turn, spawned feverish negotiations.
JOHNSTON'S DEAL
One result was that Sen. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), energy committee chairman, made a key deal with Nevada's senators. Senate conferees will oppose a House provision allowing federal preemption of Nevada's environmental laws in a study of a possible nuclear waste storage site.
Negotiations were continuing over a $400 million/year coal tax. Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) amended a bill to tax all coal production to pay health benefits for retired eastern coal miners whose former employers are defunct. Sen. Malcolm Wallop (R-Wyo.) and others say the tax would be an unfair burden on western coal.
Wallop is a coauthor of the Senate's energy bill but is willing to derail it over this one issue.
So is the Bush administration. Energy Sec. James Watkins will urge a veto of an energy bill containing a coal tax.
Acting Deputy Energy Sec. Linda Stuntz said, "It is unfortunate that this whole matter became entangled in the energy bill. It really has very little to do with energy, if anything. If we cannot get it worked out, we would just as soon not see this bill come up."
Another threat is the possibility Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) will offer an amendment allowing oil and gas exploration on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain. Leasing earlier had been deleted from the Senate bill.
Stuntz said it is clear Murkowski does not have enough votes for his amendment. "And if it is offered, it could bring down the whole energy bill. "
Meanwhile, to ensure they stay alive, Johnston attached the entire House and Senate energy bills to energy appropriations bills. Johnston explained, "This is just another way to skin the cat. And we have got to get this cat skinned this year."
TIME RUNNING OUT
The Senate energy bill's problems are not insurmountable, and necessary compromises are likely to be made.
But they must be made quickly. Congress is running out of time because it plans to adjourn in October.
Presidential campaigns remain a vague threat to the bill. Stuntz said some Democrats will oppose any bill for which President Bush might claim partial credit.
Rep. Phil Sharp (D-Ind.), a key House energy legislator, still senses strong bipartisan support for the bill. But he again predicted Congress won't pass it until "virtually the last day of the session."
Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
