ENVIRONMENT &
ENERGY DAILY (partial)
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
SPOTLIGHT
1. ENERGY POLICY
Energy conference strikes middleground on clean coal power
funding
Mary
O'Driscoll, E&E Daily senior reporter
The House-Senate energy conference appears to have
split its differences over clean coal power technology funding, according to a
draft proposal to be considered today when the committee starts marking up the
conference report.
The
draft language for the coal title of the energy bill calls for 70 percent of the
proposed $1.8 billion Clean Coal Power Initiative to go to gasification
programs. These include gasification combined cycle, gas fuel cells and turbine
combined cycle, gasification coproduction, and hybrid gasification, with the
remainder of the money targeting other "clean coal" power
projects.
The compromise
appears to split the difference between the House bill, which had called for a
60-40 split, and the Senate bill, whose funding was divided 80-20.
Clean coal funding is but one of the
issues lawmakers will tackle today as the energy conference, chaired by House
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), gets down to
business on seven energy bill titles that represent the easiest portions of the
massive bill. Barton hopes to complete the bill before a monthlong August recess
starts at the end of next week.
Other language to be discussed at today's conference meeting agreed
to by House and Senate staffers covers energy efficiency, nuclear power, Energy
Department management, personnel and training, vehicles and fuels, and hydrogen.
Lawmakers hope to quickly wrap up these issues to progress to oil and gas,
electricity and renewable portfolio standard, and climate change during
Thursday's markup session.
Also awaiting approval is a deal that Barton is working on to
provide liability protection for the producers of the controversial fuel
oxygenate MTBE, which has leaked into groundwater supplies around the country,
in exchange for a federal trust fund, partially funded by the MTBE industry, for
cleanup of existing pollution sites.
That deal is key to final passage of the energy bill, as liability
protection for MTBE producers in the 2003 energy bill gets much of the blame for
the Senate's failure to pass the conference report.
Also unresolved is the tax package. The Senate
effectively ignored White House calls for a $6.7 billion package when it passed
a 10-year collection of tax breaks scored at $18.4 billion, with $4.37 billion
in offsets. The House tax package was $8 billion but essentially constituted a
"placeholder" until the conference could come up with a deal acceptable to all
sides.
Also unclear is the
fate of the Senate's incentives title -- a specific section giving DOE broad
authority to make loan guarantees to a variety of energy projects, ranging from
renewable energy systems to advanced nuclear energy facilities to coal
gasification combined-cycle technology to carbon sequestration technology.
Lawmakers and staffers on the Senate side are particularly proud of that plan,
but the House has no similar provisions in its bill.
At this point, negotiators appear to be waiting for
final word on the size of the incentives title that would send staff into
meetings to figure out what programs get funded. But Senate energy tax staffers
right now are working on the tax package for the highway bill reauthorization,
so it is unclear just when the energy tax section will be
completed.
With the tight
conference schedule, Barton last week said he might schedule sessions for this
weekend to resolve outstanding issues. It is unclear at this time whether that
will be necessary. The conference must leave enough time next week for senators
and House members to review the report and vote on it by the anticipated July 29
recess adjournment.
Other
key points for tomorrow's energy conference debate:
Nuclear: The nuclear power title shows where
the House and Senate essentially blended their respective nuclear titles, by
taking much of the Senate's language on the "Next Generation Nuclear Plant"
program and the House's nuclear security language, which includes fingerprinting
requirements for people with unescorted access to facilities, authorization of
automatic weapons for security personnel regardless of state laws, expanded
penalties for sabotage and attempted sabotage, and a new federal security study
and corresponding enhancement of security standards if needed.
Hydrogen: The hydrogen title outlines programs
and goals for creating a hydrogen market for vehicle, utility, commercial and
residential applications by 2020. The language outlines $3.3 billion in
authorized appropriations to cover hydrogen supply, fuel cell technology,
demonstration, codes and standards, as well as reviews of the program both
internally and externally, through the National Academy of Sciences.
Energy efficiency: The draft language retains
the provision inserted into the House energy bill that requires the start of
Daylight Savings Time the first Sunday of March and ending the last Sunday of
November.
DOE management: The draft language retains the
Senate bill provisions creating a new position of Undersecretary for Science,
with two assistant secretaries covering science and nuclear power. This title
governs technology transfer and the additional positions reflect an emphasis on
science and a recognition of the importance of nuclear power within the agency.
Vehicles and fuels: There is little controversy
in the draft language in this title; however, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) at last
week's first conference committee meeting said he would introduce an amendment
here that would increase the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards by
1 mile per gallon per year in an effort to cut back on gasoline consumption in
the United States.