By J.R. Pegg
WASHINGTON, DC, September 29, 2005 (ENS) -
Two House committees on Wednesday advanced
post-hurricane legislation that relaxes environmental regulations on
oil refineries and opens much of the nation’s coast and the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development.
Republican leaders said the impact of Hurricanes Rita and
Katrina on energy prices exposed the need to boost domestic energy
supplies and ease regulation of the nation’s energy infrastructure,
despite the recent passage of a $16 billion energy bill.
"We cannot stop hurricanes, but we can mitigate some of the adverse
impacts on our energy infrastructure and our economy that hurricanes
can cause," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe
Barton, a Texas Republican.
Critics said the new energy legislation does little to help consumers
with rising energy costs and rolls back regulations that protect public
health and the environment.
The legislation is "a hastily crafted, minimally reviewed bill of
dubious virtue," that does nothing to address the nation’s growing
demand for energy, said Representative John Dingell, a Michigan
Democrat and ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee...
The bill relaxes parts of the Clean Air Act, including the New Source
Review program that require refineries and coal-fired power plants to
install new pollution equipment when they expand operations...
The changes are in line with revisions proposed by the Bush administration that have been challenged in court by states,
environmentalists and public health advocates.
In addition, the bill eases federal ozone standards and gives states
broader authority to opt out of federal pollution clean up plans.
The legislation requires the President to designate sites on
federal lands – such as closed military bases – for new refineries and
provides risk insurance to companies building new refineries. It gives
the U.S. Energy Department oversight of refinery permits and reduces
local and state input into siting decisions.
"Our country needs more oil refineries because the people who work for a living need gasoline to get to work," Barton said.
...
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