Senate and House Take One Last Shot at Energy/Oil Spill Legislation before Elections – But Climate Legislation Will Have to Wait
Both the Senate and the House are making one last effort to pass tailored energy industry reform before the end of the session. While the new strategy may increase the chance for something to pass, climate legislation will not be part of the package.
After abandoning plans for comprehensive energy and cap-and-trade climate legislation on July 22, 2010, Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) introduced a scaled-down alternative bill the following week, marrying various drilling and oil spill response reforms and a limited package of energy proposals addressing energy efficiency, natural gas vehicle and infrastructure incentives, and conservation. Though less ambitious than prior iterations, the proposed “Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act of 2010” still covers considerable ground, including provisions to:
- Remove the liability caps for owners and operators of offshore facilities;
- Establish procedures for processing damage claims;
- Strengthen emergency response planning obligations on regulated industries and establish expedited damage claim procedures;
- Expand and direct funding to oil spill prevention and response research, as well a funding to support land and water conservation projects and programs;
- Reorganize federal oversight of offshore drilling to separate leasing, environmental and safety oversight, and royalty collection efforts;
- Increase criminal penalties for violations of oil spill prevention requirements;
- Override recent case law limiting punitive damages under maritime law; and
- Upgrade federal capabilities to respond to future spills, as well as the ongoing Gulf Spill cleanup;
- Allow states to require, with some limitations, disclosure of substances used in hydraulic fracturing efforts associated with natural gas recovery.
Even the stripped-down version of the Senate Bill is likely to encounter opposition from Republicans, who have opposed any effort to expand the bill to address issues beyond offshore drilling (like the hydraulic fracturing provision).
In the House, the leadership has taken a narrower approach, focusing solely on offshore drilling and oil spill-response reform. The House Bill, a modified version of H.R. 3534 (‘‘the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act“), would disaggregate the Department of Interior’s leasing, revenue collection, and oversight functions for offshore drilling; establish new safety standards and regulatory requirements for the conduct of offshore exploration, drilling, and spill response activities. The Bill would also grant federal regulators greater enforcement authority over the offshore drilling industry and eliminates caps on liability for oil spills. Like the Senate Bill, neither climate change nor renewable portfolio standards made the final cut.
The House Bill constitutes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) effort to craft a package of drilling and oil spill reforms likely to pass the House and garner the 60 votes needed to break a Republican Senate filibuster in the dwindling hours of this session. Amendments to the House Bill are due by 6:30 pm Wednesday, with floor consideration scheduled for Friday, July 30. Senator Reid has indicated that he plans to hold a vote on the Senate Bill as early as next week.
With time dwindling before the August recess and, ultimately, the November elections, passage of any bill remains a heavy lift. Democrats in the House and Senate remain optimistic, suggesting that this could be an exciting early August in Washington.