Crs Report for Congress - Energy Policy: Comprehensive Energy Legislation (H.R. 6, S. 10) in the 109th Congress: June 24, 2005 - Ib10143 (Paperback)

On June 23, the Senate completed work on amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, H.R. 6, with a final vote scheduled for June 28. The Senate bill is similar to the House-passed version, but major differences exist, including the following areas. Ethanol and MTBE. The House bill includes a "safe harbor" provision to protect methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) refiners from product liability suits, while the Senate bill does not. Both bills would repeal the Clean Air Act requirement for oxegenated gasoline that led to the use of MTBE, and both would require refiners to use biofuel (presumably mostly ethanol), but the House bill sets a goal of 5 billion gallons per year by 2012 and the Senate bill would require 8 billion gallons. ANWR. Leasing of part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil and gas development would be permitted by a provision in the House bill, but not in the Senate bill. However, on April 28 the House and Senate approved a final budget resolution implicitly calling for ANWR to be opened to provide oil and gas leasing revenue. Electricity Restructuring. Both the House and the Senate bills would repeal the Public Utility Holding Company ...