The Republican-led House approved by a two-vote margin Friday a bill that, among other things, would give FERC the authority to monitor non-jurisdictional natural gas gathering in federal waters and would spur the construction of a long-line transportation system from Alaska to the Lower 48 states.

By 212 to 210, GOP lawmakers voted out the measure after holding open the vote for nearly an hour to sway holdouts. This prompted loud protests from Democrats. The centerpiece of the bill (H.R. 3893) calls for President Bush to designate federal sites for new refineries and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate cases of price gouging involving gasoline and diesel fuel. The close vote may presage a tough fight in the Senate.

House Democrats attacked the legislation for its failure to address the perilous supply and high prices facing home heating customers this winter, particularly those who consume natural gas. “What are we doing to protect them [heating fuel customers]” in this bill, asked Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).

The House rejected by 222 to 199 a Democratic substitute amendment, offered by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), that would have given the FTC new authority to investigate and prosecute companies for engaging in price gouging of a number of fuels, including natural gas. The failed measure sought to impose tough civil penalties on violators, up to triple the damages of excess profits, which would be used to fund the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

The bill, which was voted out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in late September, originally proposed amending the Natural Gas Act so that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could regulate the rates for gathering service on the federal Outer Continental Shelf — an authority that FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher had requested from Congress. But this was withdrawn and replaced with a weaker amendment that would merely allow the agency to monitor offshore gas gathering services. Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) pulled the original proposal after receiving complaints from producers and pipeline companies that own offshore gathering assets.

The House bill requires offshore gas gatherers to submit to FERC a report on changes to their service rates, conditions of service or facilities in the quarter after the revisions occur. The proposal, however, does not give FERC any authority to crack down on gatherers who charge excessive rates.

In order to promote expeditious construction of the Alaska gas pipeline, the bill sunsets the loan guarantee on the project within two years of enactment of the Barton bill, if the state of Alaska and interested parties have not entered into an agreement to build the pipeline by that time.

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