House, Senate Take up
Widely Different Energy Bills Amid Attempts to Resolve Dispute
July 15, 2005 — By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A dispute over a
gasoline additive could jeopardize hopes for an agreement as the Senate
and House worked on Thursday to forge a compromise to deal with the
nation's energy problems.
Under pressure because of soaring gasoline and other fuel prices,
President Bush has urged lawmakers to send him an energy bill before
they depart for their summer recess in August.
Some members of Congress are skeptical about meeting that timetable.
"We're going to try," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who is leading
the Senate negotiations. But lawmakers, he said, don't want to rush the
process and get "a shoddy bill."
The conferees met for more than 90 minutes Thursday but did not get into
the substance of the legislation. They planned several more meetings
next week.
The House approved its bill in April; the Senate's was passed in June.
The Senate version would direct more tax breaks to develop renewable
energy sources and promote conservation. It differs sharply from the
House-passed measures on issues such as drilling in an Alaskan wildlife
refuge to mandatory use of renewable energy sources by electric
utilities.
The Senate bill would cost about $17.5 billion over 10 years; the House
version comes in at $8 billion. Both are more costly than the $6.7
billion total favored by the White House.
The chief disagreement, however, centers on methyl tertiary butyl ether,
the gasoline additive known as MTBE.
The House bill would protect MTBE makers against liability from lawsuits
stemming from the chemical's contamination of drinking water supplies in
at least 36 states.
The Senate measure contains no such provision.
Dozens of senators, both Democrats and Republicans, have pledged to
block any legislation that contains that MTBE plan.
Even in the House, the issue is contentious. An attempt on Thursday to
direct House negotiators to abandon the MTBE provision failed, but only
by a small margin, 217-201.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who is chairman of the House-Senate
negotiating conference, has sought a compromise on MTBE that the Senate
might accept.
"It's absolutely imperative that we have a comprehensive national energy
bill," Barton said, expressing optimism that lawmakers can settle the
differences over MTBE and other issues.
The discussions over MTBE, largely among House Republicans, have focused
on setting up a cleanup fund for state and communities where MTBE water
contamination has been found.
It also would strengthen an existing program intended to repair or
remove leaking underground tanks at gasoline stations. But it would
still shield MTBE manufactures from product liability suits.
Barton has given no details about the discussions. "There is no deal
yet," said Lisa Miller, a Barton spokeswoman.
But even as a general framework of a compromise has surfaced, it has
been just as quickly dismissed by critics of the liability provision.
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., has said he has yet to hear anything that would
ease his concerns. His state's suit against MTBE makers would be
nullified by the House bill.
The fund could have as much as $8 billion, according to some accounts,
and be funded by taxpayers and MTBE makers and distributors. But such a
fund will not address the MTBE contamination that (communities) ... face
today or may face in the future," said Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif.
Capps cites various estimates that the cost of MTBE cleanup could reach
$33 billion, both in existing and future pollution.
Barton dismisses such estimates and says if they were true, "most of the
money is trial lawyer contingency fees" arising from the lawsuits.
Barton cites industry estimates that actual cleanup costs could be a
little as $2 billion.
Source: Associated Press |