American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015 - 43

Federal Legislation

Early Energy Bills Avoid Controversy
By Del Torkelson

WASHINGTON-Influential lawmakers introduced a pair of energy bills in both
the U.S. House of Representatives and
Senate in July, and although both are no
doubt subject to change throughout the legislative process, neither debuted as a vehicle for many major initiatives directly
affecting U.S. independent oil and gas producers, says the Independent Petroleum
Association of America.
As he considered the legislation that was
marked up in the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the bill that passed
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committees the last week of July, IPAA
Executive Vice President Lee Fuller offered
a lighthearted rejoinder to the suggestion
that the House and Senate proposals
amounted to "small ball." "We call that
'consensus-driven' here," Fuller quipped.
Nevertheless, although the lion's share
of the original language in both bills
dealt with matters outside the oil and gas
patch, he noted, the Senate's Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 contained
a provision to streamline the federal permitting process associated with liquefied natural gas exports.
Moreover, Fuller said, although neither
bill was introduced with language to
loosen or eliminate restrictions on U.S.
crude oil exports, that matter very well
could find its way into one or both after
Congress' August recess.
Senate Action
Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak., is one of the key players in the
proceedings. Murkowski and Energy
Committee Ranking Member Maria
Cantwell, D-Wa., are cosponsoring the Energy Policy Modernization Act, while
Murkowski also has introduced the Offshore Production and Energy National Security (OPENS) Act, which the committee reported July 30.
When they introduced their joint bill on
July 22, Murkowski and Cantwell stressed
the legislation's bipartisan appeal, citing an
emphasis on measures to promote sound infrastructure, efficiency and transparency.
"Murkowski and Cantwell tried to
pull in the areas in which they had consensus," Fuller characterizes. "Then they
stepped a little beyond that to look for areas in which they could compromise.
Cantwell is not particularly enthusiastic
about streamlining LNG exports, but she

is enthusiastic about reauthorizing the
Land and Water Conservation Fund
(LWCF), which (with the addition of the
LNG provision) Murkowski is willing to
embrace as well."
Even amid such compromises, press accounts repeatedly cite the chairwoman and
ranking member's efforts to report a bill
that largely lacked controversial measures.
Once the legislation appears on the Senate floor, additions are likely to require 60
votes to be amended onto the bill, which
may prevent a number of "poison pills"
from killing the legislation, reports reason.
As for whether an end to the crude export ban could meet that 60-vote threshold,
press accounts in late July cited an assessment by Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D., that
such a measure remained a few votes shy.
Even so, Fuller notes, Murkowski's success at moving the OPENS Act through
committee is likely to smooth one potential objection. "Reporting the bill out of
committee provides a somewhat stronger
position to take it up on the floor as an
amendment," he explains. "A recurring
question about floor amendments is whether
they have been considered in committee.
When the answer is no, some respond that
the issue is being pressed, since the committee has not assessed the matter. Reporting a bill gives Murkowski some advantages to do things on the floor that she has
not been able to do in prior discussions."
Fuller notes that the OPENS Act also
includes provisions to provide offshore access in some currently closed portions of
the Atlantic Seaboard, Gulf of Mexico and
offshore Alaska, while also containing revenue-sharing components for the states
neighboring those areas. Before it passed
the committee on a 12-10 party-line vote,
Fuller notes, the OPENS Act gained a provision by Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.V.,
that allows the president to curtail oil exports in the event of adverse impacts to
gasoline prices or employment.
Consensus Components
According to Murkowski's office, the
Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015
is composed of five titles, covering:
* Efficiency, provisions for which include agreements on longer-term utility energy service contracts, and reauthorizing
weatherization and state energy programs;
* Infrastructure, which-along with
the provision to streamline permitting
for LNG export projects-includes language to help modernize the country's
electric grid, enhance cybersecurity safe-

guards, maintain the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, and ensure a qualified, welltrained workforce;
* Supply, which focuses on developing sources such as hydropower, geothermal energy, marine hydrokinetic, biomass
and methane hydrates, as well as nonfuel minerals;
* Accountability, which contains reforms that aim to advance innovation, protect electric reliability, and ensure the proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars with
provisions such as reauthorizing certain
energy-related components of the America COMPETES Act, better interagency
coordination of energy/water initiatives,
and repealing numerous provisions within the U.S. Code that are outdated or redundant; and
* Conservation reauthorization, which
permanently reauthorizes the LWCF in a
way that balances land acquisition with other conservation programs important to
states, and permanently reauthorizes the
Historic Preservation Fund-both set to expire this fall-while also creating a new National Park Maintenance and Revitalization
Fund.
"Our energy renaissance has taken us
from energy scarcity to a position of energy abundance, but current law rarely reflects that," Murkowski says. "By focusing on areas where agreement is possible,
we have assembled a robust bill with priorities from many senators that will promote our economic growth, national security, and global competitiveness."
Adds Cantwell, "This energy bill permanently authorizes the LWCF, and makes
critical investments in infrastructure and
new technologies. Energy security is a major issue facing our country, just with a new
twist. Climate, efficiency and cybersecurity must be addressed, and we need to have
a plan for energy transmission, distribution
and storage. And we need to keep preserving and investing in our urban outdoor opportunities and recreation economy."
Committee documents show that the
portion dealing with LNG exports sets a
45-day deadline by which the secretary of
energy must issue a final permitting decision on any application to export LNG to
countries without free trade agreements
with the United States. The countdown begins after FERC or the Maritime Administration has concluded its National Environmental Policy Act review. It also includes provisions designed to expedite
consideration of civil actions brought under the section.
AUGUST 2015 43
American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015

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