Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who shepherded broad energy legislation through the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week, said following a meeting at the White House earlier this week that the House will pass the Republican-crafted energy bill by Thursday afternoon. House lawmakers clearly staked out their positions on the bill during the first day of debate on Wednesday.

Speaking to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, President Bush said it was in the “interest [of Congress] to get me an energy bill I can sign by August of this year.” And Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, indicated this week that his panel would likely vote out an energy bill by the end of May.

Domenici said he and Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, the ranking Democrat on the committee, plan to make a presentation in about 10-12 days of the energy issues that the two have agreed to so far. “It won’t be a 100% bipartisan bill.”

At press time Wednesday, House lawmakers had only voted on one of the 30 amendments that the House Rules Committee approved for consideration during two days of floor debate.

By voice vote, the House approved a manager’s amendment to add a provision on natural gas market reform from the H.R. 6 conference report of the 108th Congress to this year’s bill. The provision sponsored by Rep. Barton clarifies the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, saying it is illegal for any person involved in any order or the negotiation of a sales contract of a commodity for future delivery to: 1) cheat or defraud or attempt to cheat or defraud; 2) willfully make or cause to be made a false report or statement; or 3) willfully deceive or attempt to deceive a person about a contract or the disposition of execution of any order.

The provision also increases penalties for violators of the Natural Gas Act to $1 million and five years in prison; and calls on FERC to issue rules requiring regulated companies to timely report information about the availability and prices of natural gas sold at wholesale in interstate commerce to the Commission and price publishers.

The aim of the manager’s amendment is “to ensure that the Enron trading practices are not repeated,” said Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), chairman of the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee.

Democrats assailed the House Rules Committee decision to limit amendments because, as Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) said, “a lot of very important, vital issues [espoused by Democrats] were shut out.” The “amendments that they [Republicans] are afraid they could not beat on the floor were precluded,” said House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland.

McGovern raised a point of order to block consideration of the energy measure (HR 6), claiming that a contentious provision in the bill, involving methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), violated the Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995 that bars the federal government from imposing mandates on states and localities without providing adequate federal funding. House Republicans fought off the effort by a vote of 231 to 193.

The House Rules Committee late Tuesday rejected an amendment, offered by Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), to remove language in the bill granting producers of the gasoline additive MTBE protection from product liability lawsuits. The provision provides “special protection” to MTBE manufacturers, and is “completely unwarranted,” Capps said on the House floor Wednesday.

“The Republican leadership should have had the guts to at least allow an up-or-down vote” on MTBE, McGovern said.

The MTBE is expected to be a sticking point when the House and Senate meet in conference committee because of the Senate’s staunch opposition to bailing out refiners from any financial responsibility for groundwater and drinking water contamination. The issue, if not resolved, could result in the downfall of the energy bill again.

Of the amendments accepted by the House rules panel, 22 were sponsored by Democrats, three were bipartisan and five were proposed by Republicans. “Thanks for the 22 amendments, but that’s not enough” for a thorough debate of the bill, McGovern said.

Key natural gas-related amendments seek to strike provisions giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sole authority over the siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals, allowing oil and natural gas exploration on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and permitting the secretary of the Department of Interior to suspend collection of royalty payments for offshore oil and gas production on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico.

A substitute amendment by Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House energy panel, seeks to deter and punish fraud and manipulation in the natural gas and electricity markets, increases penalties for Federal Power Act violations, authorizes FERC to refund all electricity overcharges, does not repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA), and directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to review utility holding companies’ status under PUHCA to prevent them from wrongly claiming exemptions.

Barton opposed the amendment because it “goes far beyond what’s already being considered in the electricity” section of the legislation. It’s “well intentioned, but sometimes [it] goes too far,” he said. It also would “fundamentally rewrite portions of the Natural Gas Act,” noted Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH).

Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE) sponsored the amendment that would strike language preempting the authority of states and local governments over the siting of LNG import terminals. Under the bill’s current language, FERC would be made the lead federal agency for LNG siting decisions, and states would be granted only a consultative role.

The existing language in the bill “takes a limited state role and makes it a non-existent state role” with respect to siting of LNG terminal facilities, said Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).

“I happen to think the LNG siting provision is a good part of the bill,” and would require states to be involved in the process, Barton countered. If this bill passes, cities like Fall River, MA, would have little ability to block future LNG projects, said McGovern, whose district includes Fall River. Hess LNG, a joint venture of Amerada Hess Corp., and Poten & Partners are seeking to build the controversial Weaver’s Cove LNG terminal in Fall River, just south of Boston. The project has come under persistent attack from state legislators, the Massachusetts delegation of Congress, environmental organizations and local groups.

Rep. Jim Davis (D-FL) urged the House to reject the energy measure, arguing that it “guts” the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), which has allowed states to block energy projects, such as LNG terminals and gas pipelines, that are inconsistent with their coastal areas. This is “tantamount to repeal” of the CZMA, and “tramples on the rights of our states.”

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), a well-known critic of drilling in the Arctic, introduced the amendment to block exploration and production activities in the coastal area of ANWR. He was unsuccessful in this attempt during mark-up of the bill in the House energy committee last week. Allowing drilling in the Arctic refuge is the “first step” toward lifting the moratorium against oil and gas drilling in many areas of the federal Outer Continental Shelf, Markey said Wednesday on the House floor.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) sponsored the amendment to strike a section that seeks to suspend collection of royalty payments for OCS oil and gas payments in the Gulf of Mexico.

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