Senator to offer leaner U.S. energy bill
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters)
Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy Committee, on Tuesday said he plans to offer a pared-down energy bill later this month that will drop legal liability protection for makers of a controversial fuel additive.The current $31 billion comprehensive energy bill, stalled in the Senate, would shelter makers of the fuel additive MTBE -- methyl tertiary butyl ether -- from product defect lawsuits. The substance has been linked to ground water pollution in many states.
"The MTBE ought not to be in the bill here," Domenici told reporters.
Domenici said he plans to offer a revised energy proposal in coming months that would drop the MTBE protection and lower the price-tag substantially to allay concerns of Republican budget hawks like Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma.
Domenici would not disclose what cuts he envisions. Nickles said the tax portion of the bill -- valued at about $24 billion -- should be reduced to $18 billion to comply with Senate spending limits.
"I think it can be scaled back without damaging the bill -- plus I think there's too much junk in the tax code," Nickles told reporters.
A coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans blocked a final vote on the energy bill late last year because of opposition to the MTBE waiver and the bill's price tag.
To lower the bill's cost, Domenici said he is working with Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to write a cheaper version of the bill.
The plan is now being reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office and would lower the bill's price dramatically over the first decade after it is enacted, Domenici said.
But Domenici would not disclose what parts of the bill are targeted for cost-cutting, or the exact strategy for bringing the modified bill to a vote.
The bill could be voted on separately, or attached to other active legislation.
Some Republicans said the highway funding bill expected to approve by the Congress this month could offer a vehicle to move the energy bill, but Domenici's spokeswoman said it could be attached to any legislation moving this year.
Domenici acknowledged that some House Republicans oppose dropping the MTBE waiver, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The House would have to approve the Senate's changes to the energy bill before the measure could be signed into law by President George W. Bush.
DeLay would object to such a strategy because "you probably lose as many votes as you gain" for the energy bill, his spokesman said.
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