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Rahall-sponsored climate, energy bill starts to take shape |
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The House Natural Resources Committee slice of energy and climate
change legislation headed to the floor this summer is beginning to take
shape.
The bill will likely incorporate provisions to study the potential of
carbon sequestration in the United States as well as to repeal a
section of the 2005 Energy Policy Act that allows for categorical
exclusions from oil and gas studies of drilling projects on Western
public lands, Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) said yesterday.
Rahall plans to meet with subcommittee chairmen soon to
determine what the bill will look like, but he specifically cited Rep.
Bart Gordon's (D-Tenn.) carbon sequestration measure and Rep. Raul
Grijalva's (D-Ariz.) categorical exclusion bill to reporters. The
target date for markup remains May 23.
In addition, Rahall plans to examine other provisions of the
Energy Policy Act that Democrats say need a second look, but he
declined to name specific areas. Natural Resources subcommittees have
held several hearings on energy policy on public lands since February.
Alternative fuels and energy production are another target of
Rahall's, but the committee would have to determine how to address
those issues using its jurisdiction. Rahall suggested Natural Resources
could submit recommendations to other committees as well.
Carbon sequestration
H.R. 1267 from Science Committee Chairman Gordon would
authorize the U.S. Geological Survey, Energy Department and U.S. EPA to
create a national inventory of potential locations to store carbon
dioxide. The bill would also require USGS to develop a "rigorous
methodology" for the assessment, according to Gordon's office.
USGS Associate Director Patrick Leahy endorsed Gordon's bill
and a companion Senate measure at a joint House Energy and Parks
subcommittee hearing yesterday. "We are very supportive of the bills,"
Leahy said. "We feel a national assessment is needed."
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to mark up the companion bill today.
"This bill is a critical step in the process to mitigating
carbon emissions and addressing global climate change," Gordon said in
a statement. "I am pleased that the USGS agrees, and I look forward to
working with my colleagues to move this legislation."
Several environmental groups and energy industry groups and
companies support the bill, including the Edison Electric Institute.
"The work that will be done under H.R. 1267 is critical in order to
help ensure the availability of reliable and affordable electricity
from coal-fired power plants in a carbon-constrained future," EEI
President Tom Kuhn stated in a letter yesterday.
Rahall, who is from West Virginia coal country, and other
Natural Resources Committee members are concerned about the effect of
climate change legislation on the coal industry.
"There's no bigger threat to our coal industry today than the
current controversy over climate change," said Energy Subcommittee
ranking member Steve Pearce (R-N.M.). "This Congress is being urged to
adopt climate change legislation with a promise that it will not be the
death of the coal industry because we will sequester coal's carbon
emissions."
Oil and gas categorical exclusions
While Rahall scheduled the May 23 markup to allow House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) time to meet her July 4 deadline for climate
change-related legislation, the bill will also take aim at energy
policies, including a controversial provision of the 2005 energy bill.
Rahall and Parks Subcommittee Chairman Grijalva said they want
to include a repeal of Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act that allows
the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to categorically
exclude oil and gas drilling permits from full site-specific studies
triggered by the National Environmental Policy Act under certain
conditions.
Environmentalists and some congressional Democrats opposed the
provision from the start, and the Western Governors' Association
recently asked Congress to repeal the language as well. Industry groups
and the Bush administration like categorical exclusions because they
technically fulfill NEPA statutory requirements for environmental
analysis but can dramatically cut the approval time for projects or
permit requests.
Full environmental impact statements or environmental
analyses, which include public comment periods, are "necessary to
protect crucial wildlife habitat and significant migration corridors
located in the field of development," the WGA resolution stated.
Action is needed "so there is a little more transparency not
only in the amount of leases but in the process," Grijalva told E&E
Daily yesterday. Grijalva introduced a stand-alone bill on the issue
last week, H.R. 2057.
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