House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton, R-TX, announced Friday he will hold a full committee markup starting Tuesday on the book-length Energy Policy Act of 2005, at the same time a key Senate energy leader set next Wednesday for the announcement of broad stand-alone legislation directed at bringing down natural gas prices.

Backing off from earlier threats to run the slightly revised version of last year’s failed legislation straight through to the floor, Barton decided “an open process is the best process. I hope we can produce a bipartisan bill because this is the Congress where we are going to enact comprehensive energy legislation.” The draft bill is available on the home page of the House committee.

At the same Friday, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-TN, who has been working with Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM), on a Senate version of an energy bill, scheduled a press briefing for April 6 to announce a stand-alone natural gas bill. A spokesman for Alexander said it would be “a broad piece of legislation,” but was not aimed at splitting up overall energy legislation. It could be decided as the committee moves along to either include it in the overall energy bill or move it as stand-alone legislation.

In a February speech, Alexander said “I care about the price of natural gas because it’s hurting Tennessee.” He noted that the high gas prices have affected Eastman Chemical, a major employer in the state, driven up fertilizer prices for Tennessee’s agricultural community and taken a toll on manufacturers. “It’s a jobs issue for me.”

Alexander said at the time he and Domenici will determine what approach to take with natural gas within the “next couple of months (see Daily GPI, Feb. 17). A committee spokesperson said Domenici supported the natural gas legislation, which is expected to include much of what will also be in the Senate’s yet-to-appear comprehensive energy legislation.

The Senate Energy Committee chairman, meanwhile signaled he’s actively working on a comprehensive bill, with a blast Friday at a fellow New Mexico politician, Gov. Bill Richardson, for being critical of an energy bill he hasn’t even seen yet.

“Senator [Jeff] Bingaman [D-NM] and I are making very good progress on a new bipartisan and comprehensive energy policy. We are working together on bipartisan legislation that will provide significant incentives for conservation, energy efficiency, new technologies and greatly increasing domestic production of all types of energy — including renewable sources. The fact of the matter is that the bill will not, as some wrongly profess as truth, be overwhelmingly focused on oil and gas production.”

In a speech to a National Wildlife Federation meeting, Richardson, a former U.S. energy secretary, reportedly said the energy bill before Congress was “a bad bill,” which slighted conservation and new technologies for solar, wind and biomass.

Back on the House side, the committee mark-up announcement Friday morning contained the following one-liner.

“U.S. light crude closed today at $55.70 a barrel.”

It said opening statements on the House draft will begin on Tuesday at 4 p.m., continuing with the debate and mark-up through the following days, as necessary.

“Oil prices are at record highs and every day we grow more dependent on foreign sources of oil,” Barton said. “The Energy Policy Act of 2005 will put Americans to work developing our resources and expanding production for the good of the nation. From conventional and unconventional sources together, we have abundant resources that we can develop in an environmentally friendly way.”

The markup promised to include some fireworks. House Energy Committee member, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) said Friday he will be seeking to amend the draft to strike language that would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission exclusive authority to regulate siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals. Markey cited the danger of terrorists setting off a massive LNG explosion, saying that under the current draft his state of Massachusetts and the City of Fall River would have little chance of preventing Poten & Partners and Amerada Hess from building the Weaver’s Cove LNG terminal. “Dozens of other communities would be put in the same position,” he said.

Provisions in the wide-ranging House draft bill would increase oil and gas production, mandate electricity-transmission reliability standards, offer incentives for clean-coal technology and for wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric power, and funding to develop hydrogen-fueled vehicles, and provide new efficiency benchmarks for a number of household appliances.

Items on natural gas include new royalty collection rules and incentives, expedited permitting for drilling, and removal of roadblocks to natural gas transportation, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminaling and storage, and mandating drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). It also directs all oil and gas royalties be collected in kind and includes a mandatory price reporting provision for natural gas (see Daily GPI, March 31).

Initial plans had called for the bill, which is similar to last year’s measure, to go straight to the floor for a quick vote (see Daily GPI, Feb. 11), but Barton bowed to Democratic protests and scheduled the markup. Comprehensive energy legislation has been considered by both houses of Congress at least four separate times in recent years, but all attempts foundered over disagreements on key items.

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