The House Resources Committee has decided to hold off taking legislation that would open up more federal waters and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to energy development to the House floor this week in an attempt to deal with the concerns of the Florida delegation, a spokeswoman for the panel said.

The committee, chaired by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), passed the bill by 27 to 17 last Wednesday, and it was scheduled to be considered on the House floor this week (see Daily GPI, Sept. 29). But Florida House lawmakers “asked [Pombo] to hold off on the bill to make sure that they have a proposal [that they] can support,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli.

Pombo is expected to pursue ANWR and possibly expanded offshore drilling in the budget reconciliation package that is due to be taken up by Congress later this month, she noted.

Specifically, Florida lawmakers have indicated they may be able to support legislation that, while expanding energy production in the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), would prohibit activity within a 125-mile buffer zone around the Sunshine state.

The Florida House delegation is steadfastly opposed to an existing amendment in the House Resources bill, sponsored by Reps. John Peterson (R-PA) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), that would remove the presidential and congressional moratoriums in the OCS to allow natural gas-only leasing. This language would bring gas production to their shores, the lawmakers said.

It’s believed, however, that the Florida lawmakers may look more favorably upon language that, as an alternative to lifting the moratoriums, would permit individual coastal states to opt out of the bans to engage in natural gas-directed leasing and pre-leasing activities. Pombo and the Florida House lawmakers are looking at this option, Zuccarelli said.

A separate energy bill passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week is scheduled to be considered on the House floor later this week. That bill (H.R. 3893), which seeks to spur the construction of new refinery and pipeline capacity in the United States, also includes a watered-down amendment that would allow FERC to monitor offshore gas gathering services. The bill originally included a tougher proposal giving FERC the authority to regulate rates for gas gathering service in the offshore, but it was modified after the lawmakers received complaints from producers and pipeline companies that own offshore gathering assets.

Also on Capitol Hill this week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to explore the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on energy infrastructure in the Gulf Coast and the recovery efforts. “I think there will be a bias toward natural gas production [at the hearing] because that’s what people are worried about with the winter season coming up,” said Bill Wicker, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, the ranking Democrat on the committee.

Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Bingaman on Monday and Tuesday are scheduled to travel to the Gulf Coast, first meeting with energy officials in Houston, TX, then going to Louisiana where they will do a fly-over of the damaged energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore, Wicker said.

A House Judiciary subcommittee also has planned a hearing for Thursday to examine legislation (H.R. 1369) that would relax taxes on natural gas pipelines. The bill, which will be considered by the Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee, seeks to prevent natural gas pipelines from being overvalued by the government as a way to receive higher tax revenues, CQ Green Sheets reported in its Monday edition.

©Copyright 2005Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.