- San Antonio Express-News: Oil industry coalition questions Interior’s proposed offshore-safety rules
- The Washington Examiner: Bills on tap from House, Senate energy panels
- The Hill: Week ahead: House takes up coal ash bill
- Wall Street Journal: California Governor Calls for Zero-Emissions Plan for Freight Industry
POLITICO Morning Energy for 7/20/2015
By DARIUS DIXON, with help from Darren Goode, Elana Schor, and Alex Guillén
ENERGY ACTS OF 2015? There are growing signs that the House and Senate energy committees plan to unveil four-part energy strategies this week that have been in the works for months. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski is “hoping” to release a bipartisan draft with her Democratic counterpart, Maria Cantwell, this week and start what would likely be a series of markups on the panel. Cantwell last week echoed that a draft proposal is nearly completed, while also cautioning that kicking off committee debate this week would be “ambitious.” That said, the goal of moving the plan through the panel before lawmakers leave for the August recess might prompt at least an initial markup this week. More contentious language — such as lifting the 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude oil exports — isn’t expected to be part of the initial draft despite Murkowski’s leadership of that issue. Still, the Alaska Republican said such language may “come along a little bit later.”
And what about the House? Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton last week said his panel is “making progress” on an energy package — remember the Architecture of Abundance? — as well. Like the Senate’s version, the House is expected to touch on issues such as infrastructure permitting, modernizing the electric grid, and scrutinizing a host of existing programs. The House has also taken some interest in changing FERC’s enforcement operation, and Energy Department efficiency standards. Asked about the chances of a markup this week, Upton said with a smile: “Stay tuned.” So keep refreshing your inbox.
DERAILED MT OIL TRAIN HAD NEWER-MODEL CARS: The BNSF oil train that derailed in Montana on Friday spilled an estimated 35,000 gallons of crude and forced about 30 people to be evacuated according to a Transportation Department email: (http://politico.pro/1HBfQGS). DOT also confirmed to Pro Transportation’s Kathy Wolfe late Friday that the three breached tank cars were CPC-1232, a class of oil train car billed as safer than the notoriously spill-prone DOT-111 models set for phase-out under the Obama administration’s crude-by-rail safety regulations.
IRAN DEAL? BREAK OUT YOUR TI-89: We all know that the issues burning brightest around the deal attempting to curb Iran’s nuclear program are the easing of economic and military sanctions. Fair enough. But that doesn’t mean that Congress isn’t also calling on a constellation of resources to help sort through the nerdier science details at the center of the inspections regime. Sure, getting lawmakers comfortable with the inspection issues that require knowledge ranging from basic nuclear physics and uranium enrichment to centrifuge research and development has largely fallen to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz but there’s still an element of “trust but verify” at play. “You want to broaden it beyond the normal resources that make us run on a day-to-day basis. You need to do that … to satisfy yourself that this [deal] crosses the T’s and dots the I’s,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Sen. Chris Coons has tasked himself and his staff with understanding centrifuge technology and R&D and tugging on all sorts of resources, like the Congressional Research Service. “The challenge is that this is at the intersection of defense, intelligence, energy and getting the right people in the right place to answer pointed questions is a challenge. It requires real persistence.” Coons’ AAAS fellow is also getting a piece of the action. Your morning host has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/1KdoLCa
WELCOME BACK! ME missed you. I’m Darius Dixon and I’ve been semi-obsessed with the firestorm set off by the Gawker story that, if true, went all TMZ on a Condé Nast executive and helped further an extortion plot. Journalism is an imperfect ecosystem of people, motives and information, but it was a sentence HuffPo’s Gabriel Arana flagged from the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics that stuck with me: “Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.” Send your energy news, tips and commentary to ddixon@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter @dariusss, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.
CONGRESS-FREE MONDAY: I know they’ll always be on our minds and hanging over our heads, but both the House and Senate out still out today. Both chambers return tomorrow.
MURKOWSKI GETS FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF SPR WOES: While lawmakers in both chambers — and both parties — have increasingly eyed the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a goose for non-energy-related golden eggs, Murkowski decided to size up those facilities for herself. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources chairwoman visited the SPR’s Bayou Choctaw site on Friday, near Baton Rouge, La., alongside Chris Smith, the Energy Department’s assistant secretary for fossil energy. Murkowski has certainly been unenthusiastic about proposals aimed at selling off reserve oil to not only not pay for SPR maintenance but those that would go towards offsetting legislative non sequiturs in health care and the like. “Any potential revenue raised through the ‘rightsizing’ of the SPR should be used to improve our nation’s energy security,” Murkowski said in a statement. “Ensuring the operational effectiveness of the reserve should be our first priority.”
Pro tip: Now that the reserve is coming up in other quadrants of policy (health, highways, etc.), it’s worthwhile to note that “SPR” isn’t pronounced “spur” but rather “spur-o” like bro, for reasons long unknown to your morning host.
FRIDAY DATA DUMP ON OIL AND GAS NUMBERS ON FEDERAL LAND: The Energy Information Administration dropped new estimates late Friday for oil and natural gas production on federal lands during fiscal 2014, finding a 0.2 percent increase in sales generated. Crude oil and lease condensate production on federal lands rose 6 percent, while natural gas dropped 7 percent. House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop gave the news a hearty thumbs-down, saying in a statement that the EIA numbers emerged “the same week that the president welcomes Iranian oil to the market with open arms. Producers operating on private and state lands are powering our energy economy, but we deserve better from the federal government.”
REGULATION NERDS, UNITE! If you made it for the exits early last Friday after an especially grueling week, then you may have missed the latest edition of Energy Regulation Watch. Get yourself caught up on the latest rulemaking action across the EPA, the NRC, the departments of Interior and Energy, and all those places that are a second home to many of you. Alex Guillén tells Pros want they need to know about the rules they love and hate (and those they may love to hate): http://politico.pro/1DnqzRh
** A message from Fuels America: EPA, the choice has never been more clear on the Renewable Fuel Standard. Will you cater to oil industry lobbyists? Or will you stand with the hundreds of thousands of hardworking Americans who delivered a strong message that the RFS is working for rural America? bit.ly/1VaQpmp **
THE REST OF THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS:
— The Senate: There are a couple of interesting things happening this week but a lot of eyes are going to be on tomorrow’s Finance Committee markup on a tax extenders package, which throws a two-year lifeline to the renewable energy production tax credit. A summary of the draft bill (http://1.usa.gov/1Key6H4) says the PTC, which expired at the end of last year, would be retroactively reinstated for projects where construction begins by the end of 2016. The bill also extends about a dozen other energy-related tax breaks, including those to promote energy efficiency in homes and biofuels production. On Wednesday, the Commerce Committee plans to hold a nomination hearing for Marie Therese Dominguez to be administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. She was an adviser to Mark Warner when he was governor who now serves as deputy assistant Army secretary for civil works. Obama administration officials have been pressing their case for the Iran nuclear deal for nearly week but on Thursday morning lawmakers on the Foreign Relations Committee sink their teeth in with a hearing.
— The House: The Rules Committee plans to move Rep. David McKinley’s Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act, H.R. 1734, tomorrow afternoon although the amendment deadline is 3 p.m. today. The bill has 44 co-sponsors, including four Democrats, and could reach the floor on Wednesday. McKinley’s bill was originally expected on the floor at the end of June. The Natural Resources Committee plans to hold a hearing this Wednesday about social cost of carbon analyses.
HOEVEN, MANCHIN INTRO COAL ASH BILL: Speaking of McKinley’s coal ash legislation: The Senate is starting to play catch-up. Sens. John Hoeven and Joe Manchin have introduced their own version of the legislation, which would set up state permitting programs for coal ash and permanently designates it as non-hazardous. EPA’s rule, released in December and set to take effect in October, left seemingly all sides unhappy. Republicans in particular were pleased that EPA did not regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste, triggering more stringent requirements, but felt the rule allows the agency to one day change its classification, creating uncertainty for states and utilities. The coal ash rule was challenged last week in court by various utilities and environmental groups. The bill: http://politico.pro/1REEsGB
BANKING ON A CRUDE EXPORT BILL HEARING: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is pressing for a Senate Banking Committee hearing on crude oil export ban-lifting legislation she’s co-sponsored with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski. And one source closely following the debate said a hearing had been tentatively set for July 30, though a Banking Committee spokeswoman could not confirm that. Heitkamp said she has talked to Banking Chairman Richard Shelby and “he’s excited to do the hearing.” Amid congressional reviews of an Iranian nuclear deal that may open up the Islamic republic’s oil to the global market that “begs the question why wouldn’t we do that for America’s oil,” Heitkamp said.
FOUR CORNERS OK TIL ’41: The Interior Department on Friday approved the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant, located on Navajo land in New Mexico, for a 25-year lease extension. Four Corners recently shuttered three of its five units in response to a federal clean air plan, and earlier this month reached a $160 million consent decree with the federal government over alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. The two units that remain online will support 2,340 jobs in the state, according to Interior. Interior also authorized a nearby mine that provides coal to the plant to continue operations, accepted a mining plan for a new nearby mine and extended rights-of-way for transmission lines and roads. The Record of Decision: http://1.usa.gov/1THC4fC
CYBERCONFIDENCE IS UP BUT ENERGY IT SEES THREAT: American IT specialists are more confident in their abilities to thwart a cyberattack compared to three years ago, and the sentiment was especially strong among those in the energy sector across four different countries, according to a multinational survey from the Aspen Institute and Intel Security being released today. The survey included 625 “IT decision makers” in the U.S., U.K, France and Germany while 139 had a focus on critical energy infrastructure across all four countries. Overall, the survey found a high level of confidence in IT specialists’ belief in their own cyberdefenses. Still, those in the transportation and energy sectors were more likely to believe that a deadly cyberattack is “likely or highly likely” to happen within three years than specialists surveyed in government and the financial sectors. The report: http://bit.ly/1DnPFPX
SMOKE THE LIZARD, NOT THE CLIMATE: Last month, Pro Energy’s Darren Goode told you about Jay Faison, the GOP North Carolina businessman trying to push his party into addressing climate change (http://politico.pro/1fWKqlp) — an effort he plans to spend $175 million doing. And now he’s taken his pitch to the team at POLITICO Magazine. I’ll admit, you don’t see sentences like this very often: “It’s time to develop a conservative national energy agenda that grows the economy, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, protects jobs over lizards and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that are warming our planet.” Faison: http://politi.co/1MeWmLv
QUICK HITS
— Coal Miners Struggle to Survive in an Industry Battered by Layoffs and Bankruptcy. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1DpxkSs
— The good oil boys club: Latin America’s oil firms need more foreign capital. The Economist: http://econ.st/1MjERKS
— New Jersey Weighs Higher Gas Taxes to Replenish Transportation Fund. The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1GuIfdu
— More unused oil, gas wells linger without permanent seals increasing risk. The Associated Press: http://bit.ly/1DpKLSB
— Passage of California climate change bill could set global example. The Los Angeles Times: http://lat.ms/1OgGqGZ
Tags: energy, fuel, gas, oil