Reid, tight schedule seen as roadblocks to vote on efficiency bill

Nick Juliano, E&E reporter

Published: Thursday, June 21, 2012

Senators working to bring a bipartisan energy efficiency bill to the floor are nearing a tentative agreement on amendments that has been endorsed by GOP leadership but has stalled with Majority Leader Harry Reid, several Senate sources said this week.

The tentative agreement comes in a proposal offered earlier this month by leaders of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that would authorize Democrats and Republicans to each offer a six or so amendments to the pending efficiency bill, according to multiple sources on both sides of the aisle, who were granted anonymity to discuss the negotiations candidly. But Reid (D-Nev.) so far has not agreed to the proposal, nor has he offered a counterproposal, the sources said.

At issue is S. 1000, a bill sponsored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) that would strengthen building codes and provide incentives for factories to improve their efficiency. The bill's sponsors said this week that they believe the legislation can win a big bipartisan majority -- perhaps the only energy bill that could make that claim this year -- and that they do not worry about it being used to force senators to take more politically tough votes (E&E Daily, June 20).

After all, plenty of votes already have been cast in the upper chamber on controversial topics like the Keystone XL oil pipeline and whether to uphold various environmental regulations. But Senate sources say Reid has refused to sign off on an amendment deal worked out among Shaheen, Portman, Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), committee ranking member Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Reid's office did not respond to several requests for comment yesterday.

Sources differed on how close a deal was or is to fruition, with Republicans accusing Reid of trying to duck another debate on contentious energy issues, while Democrats defended the leader as more concerned about timing and whether enough time remained on the Senate calendar to spend a few days or more on the efficiency bill.

Bingaman told E&E Daily yesterday that any agreement would have to be worked out between Reid and McConnell and that he was not aware of a deal being reached. And he said the impasse was not due to hesitancy to force senators to take a position on controversial energy or environmental policies.

"I think those [are the] types of votes that we're voting on as part of the farm bill," Bingaman said during a brief interview in the Capitol, just before a vote on a measure to block U.S. EPA's utility air toxics rule and ahead of a series of votes on farm bill amendments. "I don't think anybody's concerned about any particular vote that I'm aware of. I think it has more to do with how much time on the Senate schedule has to be committed" to the efficiency bill.

The Senate is scheduled to remain in session until Aug. 6, aside from a weeklong recess around July 4, and will reconvene the week after Labor Day for what is expected to be an abbreviated autumn session.

Another Democratic source acknowledged that there has not been a counterproposal from Reid's office regarding the schedule but said the sense from leadership is there is "so much on the agenda" that any effort to get Shaheen-Portman on the floor would have to ensure it could be done expeditiously.

Broad support

The underlying legislation is among the least controversial energy bills introduced this Congress, which has supporters still optimistic it could pass despite the procedural delays. Outside groups calling for the Senate to take up the bill range from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest industry association, to the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the most prominent environmental groups.

And the bill has support from the White House.

"The administration has a proven track record here of believing in energy efficiency, but additional legislation is needed," White House energy adviser Heather Zichal said during a policy forum yesterday. "I think finding opportunities to work on bipartisan initiatives is certainly what we're focused on as an administration. We need to continue to make these investments."

The bill also has a companion in the House in the form of related legislation from Reps. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah). There has been less attention to that legislation in the lower chamber, where majority Republicans' approach to energy policy has primarily focused on reining in environmental regulations and expanding domestic drilling.

Bass said yesterday that staff-level discussions were ongoing to assuage potential Republican concerns about the legislation, pointing out that his bill contains no federal mandates similar to the light bulb efficiency standards that Republicans have derided.

"I don't want the bill to go through with a significant number of opponents on the Republican side," Bass said in a brief interview.

He said he hoped that the bill would get a hearing in the Energy and Commerce Committee before the August recess, although no date had been set.

What amendments would be offered to the Senate bill if Reid signs onto a deal remain unclear, but they likely would run the gamut of controversial policies that have been offered before and legislation that is stalled after passing through the Senate Energy Committee, a Republican aide said.