Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), chairman of the House Resources Committee, is working to reattach expanded Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) drilling to the pending budget reconciliation package, according to Capitol Hill aides.

“It is possible to re-add OCS before taking it [the budget package] to the floor,” said Jennifer Zuccarelli, a spokeswoman for the majority side of the House Resources Committee.

She noted that Pombo has been in talks with Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL), a key opponent of expanded OCS drilling, about what it would take to win his and other Florida lawmakers’ support for his OCS proposal. Pombo’s measure would give coastal states the option to either allow oil and natural gas drilling 125 miles from their shorelines or keep the existing moratorium intact.

“The chairman is adamant about including energy production in the reconciliation bill,” Zuccarelli told NGI. She noted that Pombo, rather than offering OCS as an amendment to the House reconciliation bill, would have to go back to the House Rules Committee to get it reinserted in the bill.

House leaders last week stripped provisions on expanded OCS drilling and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) from the $50 billion budget reconciliation bill in order to win support from moderate Republicans for the bill (see Daily GPI, Nov. 11). Florida’s Mack applauded the decision to table what he called a “reckless plan to open Florida’s coastline to offshore drilling.” The move, however, angered pro-drilling conservative Republicans and put the budget bill in jeopardy.

House leaders pledged Tuesday not to leave for the Thanksgiving recess until they complete a deal on their deficit-reduction package, but there were few signs of progress, reported Congressional Quarterly’s Green Sheets.

In the meantime, Reps. John E. Peterson (R-PA) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), both members of the House Resources panel, on Tuesday introduced stand-alone legislation that would eliminate the moratorium with respect to drilling for natural gas on the federal OCS. The bill will be considered by the House Resources’ Energy and Mineral Resources Committee on Thursday (see Daily GPI, Nov. 15).

Peterson and Abercrombie have received assurances from House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) that the bill will be considered on the House floor later this winter in return for the lawmakers not trying to attach it to the budget reconciliation package.

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