Senate and House conferees reportedly are preparing to end two years of congressional debate with the recommendation of an energy bill unworthy of the name. In fact, the compromise bill that was expected to be proposed Tuesday would more aptly be called the pipeline safety and nuclear liability limitation extension bill.

That’s all that’s left of comprehensive legislation from the two houses that variously would have restructured the rules for the electric power industry, opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and encouraged an Alaska gas pipeline, added new fuel mileage limits on vehicles and encouraged the use of ethanol in gasoline, repealed the Public Utility Holding Company Act, and provided incentives for domestic oil and gas development. The key lies in the word “variously,” since the bill passed by the Senate, led by Democrats, included some of those elements and left out others, while the one passed by the Republican-led House had its own twists and turns on the controversial issues. Tune in next year as the Congress starts all over again on the main energy issues.

With the short lame-duck session that is not expected to last beyond this week, and the different composition of the new Congress in January, the bill to be proposed by Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-LA, chairman of the joint conference committee, left all those controversial issues on the cutting room floor, keeping only the snoozers — pipeline safety and nuclear liability limits.

The pipeline safety bill calls for the establishment of a nationwide three digit “one-call” notification system which excavators can call to find out where pipelines are located before they drill, and legislative changes to make it easier to prosecute excavators who damage pipelines. Public education on one-call and identification of hazardous releases from damaged pipelines also would be provided for.

The proposed bill also would:

On the nuclear side, the bill provides for the extension of the indemnification provisions for an additional 15 years from Aug. 1, 2002 to Aug. 1, 2017 for nuclear Regulatory Commission licensees and Department of Energy contractors. It also increases the maximum annual assessment under the standard deferred premium on NRC licensees from $10 million to $15 million and adjusts it for inflation in the future. It sets the total amount of indemnification for DOE contractors at $10 billion and adjusts the number for inflation in the future.

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