Washington (Platts)--27Jul2007
The US House of Representatives on Friday passed, by a count of 231-191 votes, a farm bill that is set to increase funding for renewable energy programs while offsetting the cost with fees and incentive rollbacks for oil and natural gas companies. The bill (H.R. 2419) would continue or increase funding for biorefinery loan guarantees, renewable energy and energy efficiency educational programs, and incentives for ethanol production, among other programs. The Congressional Budget Office put the measure's price tag for energy programs over the next ten years at $6.3 billion, with $5.8 billion in new spending that must be offset. This is the first farm bill reauthorization to be considered under the House's new "paygo" rules, which require new spending to come from new revenues so that they do not to increase the US budget deficit. Some $17 billion in spending from a variety of farm bill titles must be offset in order for it to pass. The funds needed for fiscal 2008 to 2012 expenditures under the energy title would come from H.R. 6, a measure passed by the House in January that would repeal $14 billion in tax breaks and other subsidies for oil and gas producers and apply those funds to future renewable energy legislation. Part of that money would come from "conservation of resources fees," which would be levied on leases that do not pay royalties. The provision was intended to help recoup losses from leases signed in 1998 and 1999 that did not include a price trigger to end royalty relief. The federal government could lose $10 billion on the leases by the time they expire. H.R. 2419 was considered under a rule that required "several billion" dollars from the energy bill as an offset for the farm bill energy title, said rules committee spokesman John Santore. H.R. 6 has not become law yet, but he said it was a point of reference, and as such satisfied paygo requirements. --Jean Chemnick, jean_chemnick@platts.com --Rodney White, rodney_white@platts.com This is an excerpt. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Inside Energy at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=23_33&products_id=61
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