From the Inbox - NRDC's Legislative Watch Week of 6/2

June 2, 2010 Before recessing for the Memorial Day holiday, Congress continued addressing the Gulf Coast oil spill, as well as other energy-related legislation. Congress will return to Washington on June 7. Climate and Energy Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) is scheduled on 6/10 to bring to the Senate floor a "Resolution of Disapproval" that would dismantle the Clean Air Act as a tool for combating global warming. Specifically, Sen. Murkowski's resolution would overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific finding that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that endangers the public's health and welfare. The resolution would have the effect of repealing the Obama administration's landmark clean vehicle standards, which were based on that finding, and would also block requirements that the largest power plants and factories use modern technology and cleaner energy to cut their global warming pollution. The resolution, which has 41 co-sponsors, needs only a simple majority to pass. The Obama administration has been working against the resolution. On 5/28, the House passed the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act (H.R. 4213). The bill contains several environmental provisions, including one that would extend the energy efficiency home credit, which encourages the construction of homes that use 50 percent less heating and cooling. In response to the Gulf Coast oil spill, the legislation also includes a new provision to increase the amount available in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to cover individuals, businesses and governments for damages resulting from an oil spill. The funds would come from raising the tax on oil companies from 8 cents per barrel to 34 cents per barrel. NRDC worked successfully to keep several tax credits for dirty energy out of the bill, including one for liquid coal and another for a costly subsidy to conventional corn ethanol. The Senate will take up the bill after the Memorial Day recess. On 5/28 the House passed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5116) by a vote of 262-150. The vote represented the third effort last month by Democrats, led by House Science and Technology Committee Chair Gordon (D-TN), to pass the bill to authorize research and development programs at federal science agencies. The bill would authorize energy research spending of $85.6 billion over five years. Seventeen Republicans joined Democrats in approving the measure. The bill was previously pulled from the House floor when Republicans tried to force through spending cuts by tying them to provisions to prohibit funds from going to federal workers disciplined for viewing pornography on work computers. Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 prohibits the federal purchase of dirty fuels (such as liquid coal, tar sands and oil shale) that have lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions higher than conventional fuels. On 5/28 the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5136) by a vote of 229-186. An amendment to the bill would allow an exception to Section 526 for generally available fuels that may contain incidental amounts of high-carbon fuels, so long as the contract is not intended to expand the use of high-carbon fuels. Drinking Water On 5/26, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved, by a vote of 45-1, the Assistance, Quality and Affordability (AQUA) Act (H.R. 5320), to reauthorize the state drinking water revolving fund, which helps pay for local projects to safeguard drinking water. The funding levels in the bill were cut to garner bipartisan support. An earlier version of the bill would have authorized $14.7 billion to the fund over five years, while the approved version would authorize only $4.8 billion over three years. The amounts pale in comparison to the EPA estimate of almost $335 billion needed over the next 20 years for all drinking water systems to continue providing safe drinking water to the public. One amendment to the AQUA Act offered by Rep. DeGette (D-CO), and supported by NRDC and other environmental groups, would require public disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals. Hydraulic fracturing is an oil and natural gas production technique that involves injecting millions of gallons of water, chemicals and sand underground at very high pressure to facilitate production. Hundreds of different types of chemicals are used in fracturing operations, many of which can cause serious health problems or are known carcinogens. In 2005, Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act; the exemption was originally recommended by former Vice President Cheney’s energy task force. Rep. DeGette withdrew her amendment before it was voted on as part of an agreement between Democrats and Republicans to pass a bipartisan bill. Rep. DeGette indicated she may bring the amendment up during floor consideration. Oil Drilling Congress continued holding hearings on the causes and effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and senators have begun offering floor amendments to address the matter. For instance, Sen. Menendez (D-NJ) joined Sens. Nelson (D-FL), Cardin (D-MD) and Lautenberg (D-NJ) to propose an amendment to raise the liability cap on economic damages resulting from a spill, including lost profits and wages, from $75 million to $10 billion. Although they have tried twice to bring the measure to the floor by "unanimous consent," Republicans objected on the grounds that it would discriminate against small drillers. On 5/26 Sen. Vitter (R-LA) introduced legislation to ensure BP fully meets its commitment to pay all claims from the oil spill (S. 3410). The legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Murkowski, would codify BP’s promises to pay all economic damages from the spill and to forgo any attempt to recover those expenditures from the federal government. S. 3410 would also create an expedited process to pay the claims of those in need of immediate help. On 5/24 Sen. Menendez introduced S. 3405, the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, to repeal most of the $30 billion in credits and deductions in the tax code favoring the oil industry. Many other bills related to the Gulf spill have been introduced to expand the moratorium on new drilling, increase drillers’ liability and increase research on the spill’s impact; they will likely be considered after the Memorial Day recess. Public Health On 5/28, the Senate passed the $59 billion emergency supplemental spending package (H.R. 4899) by a vote of 67-28 after adopting an amendment delaying enforcement of an EPA rule, which went into effect last month, that requires contractors to be certified before disturbing lead paint in older structures. Sen. Collins (R-ME) offered the amendment, supported by the National Association of Home Builders, which argues that there are not enough EPA-approved contractors. The EPA estimates that more than 125,000 contractors were certified by the April 22 deadline under the rule (renovators have had nearly two years to take the one-day course needed for certification). The lead paint rule is intended to protect children from the serious health dangers of lead exposure as a result of unsafe renovation, repair and painting in older homes. If agreed to by the House, the delay would last until October.