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House GOP to push new wave of energy reforms next week
House Republicans are expected to move legislation as early as next
week that would force the Obama administration to assess the impact of
EPA rules on gas prices, require more domestic energy development when
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is tapped and open more federal lands
for domestic development.
Once it returns, the House has plans to
move the Strategic Energy Production Act, which combines these and
other GOP proposals into a single legislative proposal, which represents
the latest Republican effort to force the administration's hand on
energy development.
"Our country is
in desperate need of a national energy strategy, and increasing domestic
production should be a major component of that plan," Rep. Cory Gardner
(R-Colo.), the lead sponsor of the bill, said last week. "By increasing
oil and gas leases on federal land to match what is released from our
emergency energy reserves, we can turn a short-term supply fix into a
long-term policy that promotes America's energy independence."
The bill also includes language from Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), the Gasoline Regulations Act, which would set up an executive-branch committee charged with estimating the cumulative impacts of EPA rules on gas prices, jobs and the economy. That committee would have to issue a report to Congress 210 days after enactment.
Another proposal, from Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.), would require the secretary of the Interior to report every four years on the government's federal onshore energy strategy.
The bill also includes other GOP language requiring the Secretary of the Interior to decide on energy leasing permits within 30 days, requiring lease sales in Alaska, and allowing Internet-based onshore oil and gas lease sales.
The House Rules Committee has set a June 18 deadline for amendments to the bill, H.R. 4480, a sign the bill could be considered as early as next week, once members return from break.
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