US bill would streamline Alaska natgas pipeline
Date: 13-Sep-02
Country: USA
Author: Tom Doggett
However, some of the most controversial proposals in the bill - drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and tripling the amount of ethanol used to stretch gasoline supplies - have yet to be determined. Democrats and Republicans also are at odds over tax breaks for oil drilling.
In their first working session since the August recess, Senate and House bill negotiators agreed to give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a 20-month deadline to review the environmental impact of the Alaska gas pipeline.
Language also was approved to have the pipeline follow a southern route instead of taking a northern route that would permit the project to go offshore into the whale hunting areas of native Alaskans.
The Bush administration, Canadian government and oil companies that would be involved in the project object to a mandated route for the pipeline.
Lawmakers will vote at a later date on $11 billion in loan guarantees for the Alaska gas pipeline and several billions dollars more in tax credits for the oil companies if natural gas prices fell too low.
Negotiators rejected an amendment from Democratic Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts that would have required making the pipeline from steel produced at North American plants.
Oil giant BP urged lawmakers earlier this week to reject the amendment, arguing that a requirement to use North American steel would hurt negotiations to obtain the best steel prices from plants and run up the cost of the project.
COAL PLAN FUNDED
Separately, lawmakers voted to fully fund the Bush administration's proposal to spend $200 million a year for 10 years to develop technology to make coal less polluting when burned in power plants.
Coal-fueled plants account for half of U.S. electricity generation, but are among the biggest polluters with emissions of sulfur nitrogen and mercury.
The Senate and House negotiators also approved pipeline safety language to ensure the nation's pipeline network is working properly.
Under the planned measure, all U.S. pipelines must be inspected within 10 years after the energy bill is passed by Congress, with at least half the pipelines inspected within the first five years. Pipelines with the highest risk factors, including a history of leaks, repairs, or failures, will be given the highest priority for inspection.
Lawmakers still have a long way to go before completing an energy bill.
Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin of Louisiana, chairman of the joint Senate-House conference committee working on the energy bill, said he expects lawmakers to complete their job by the end of this month.
"We're going to continue slogging it out - counter offer by counter offer - until it's done," Tauzin said.
After a compromise bill has been approved by the negotiators, it must go back to the House and Senate for approval by each chamber.
President George W. Bush has urged lawmakers to send him an energy bill before Congress adjourns in October.
However, Democrats and Republicans are divided over the Senate's call for stricter vehicle fuel mileage standards and a greenhouse gas inventory to track corporate efforts to clean up the air. Electricity deregulation also is uncertain.
The Republican-led House passed an energy bill more than a year ago which contained more than $30 billion in energy tax credits and breaks. Democrats say that will be difficult to pay for with a growing federal deficit.
