Controversial ANWR drilling pulled from House consideration

Washington (Platts)--16Jun2004

A controversial bill to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
and gas drilling has been pulled from consideration by the US House of
Representatives, a spokesman for the legislation's sponsor, Rep. Richard
Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, said Wednesday. The bill was
to have been voted on Wednesday as part of the House's so-called Energy Week
to highlight Senate inaction on comprehensive energy legislation. But a
"political complication" arose from a bill provision directing revenues from
leasing to clean up abandoned coal mines and provide health benefits for coal
miners.

The House on several occasions has voted to allow ANWR leasing, but this is
the first time a bill sought to link ANWR drilling revenues with an abandoned
mines/coal worker benefits package, which expires in September. The hope of
pro-drilling forces, according to some sources, is that by linking the
measures together, ANWR could pick up enough mining state votes to be approved
in the Senate, which has long opposed the measure. Pombo's spokesman said the
chairman would try again to pass the bill, although probably not this week. He
noted there was "a very distinct need for the parties to come back to the
table" to negotiate the expiring abandoned mines act. "It must be
reauthorized, and they are going to have to find a way to pay for it," he
noted.