[House Report 106-701]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-701
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PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4733, THE ENERGY AND WATER
DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2001
_______
June 26, 2000.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
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Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 532]
The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration
House Resolution 532, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be
adopted.
summary of provisions of the resolution
The resolution provides for the consideration of H.R. 4733,
the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, 2001,
under an open rule. The rule provides one hour of general
debate divided equally between the chairman and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.
The rule waives clause 4 of rule XIII (requiring a three
day layover of the committee report and requiring a three day
availability of printed hearings on a general appropriations
bill) against consideration of the bill. The rule further
waives clause 2 of rule XXI (prohibiting unauthorized or
legislative provisions in an appropriations bill) and clause
5(a) of rule XXI (prohibiting a tax or tariff provision in a
bill not reported by a committee with jurisdiction over revenue
measures) against provisions in the bill.
The rule provides that the amendment printed in this report
may be offered only by a Member designated in this report and
only at the appropriate point in the reading of the bill, shall
be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time
specified in this report equally divided and controlled by the
proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment,
and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the
question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. All
points of order against the amendment are waived.
Members who have preprinted their amendments in the
Congressional Record prior to their consideration will be given
priority in recognition to offer their amendments if otherwise
consistent with House rules. The Chairman of the Committee of
the Whole may postpone votes during consideration of the bill,
and reduce voting time to five minutes on a postponed question
if the vote follows a fifteen minute vote. Finally, the rule
provides for one motion to recommit, with or without
instruction.
The waiver of clause 4 of rule XIII is necessary because
the report was not printed until Monday, June 26, and the bill
may be considered on the floor as early as Tuesday, June 27.
The waiver of clause 2 of rule XXI is necessary because there
are several unauthorized and legislative provisions, as well as
transfers of funds. Those provisions are described in pages
154-155 of the Committee Report on the Energy and Water
Development Appropriations bill, 2001 (106-693). Finally, the
waiver of clause 5(a) of rule XXI is necessary because Sec. 604
of the bill (Nuclear Regulatory Commission fee) is a revenue
provision. Similar provisions have been included in previous
Energy and Water Appropriations bills because the fee funds the
commission.
summary of amendment made in order to the rule
Sherwood: Replaces section 606 with the text of H.R. 2884,
the Energy Policy and Conservation Reauthorization Act, as
passed by the House. (30 minutes)
text of amendment made in order
I. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Sherwood of
Pennsylvania, or a Designee, Debatable for 30 Minutes
Page 39, lines 6 through 19, amend section 606 to read as
follows:
Sec. 606. (a) Energy Policy and Conservation Act
Amendments.--The Energy Policy and Conservation Act is
amended--
(1) by amending section 166 (42 U.S.C. 6246) to read
as follows:
``authorization of appropriations
``Sec. 166. There are authorized to be appropriated for
fiscal years 2000 through 2003 such sums as may be necessary to
implement this part.'';
(2) in section 181 (42 U.S.C. 6251) by striking
``March 31, 2000'' both places it appears and inserting
``September 30, 2003''; and
(3) in section 281 (42 U.S.C. 6285) by striking
``March 31, 2000'' both places it appears and inserting
``September 30, 2003''.
(b) Purchase of Oil From Marginal Wells.--
(1) Purchase of oil from marginal wells.--Part B of
Title I of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42
U.S.C. 6232 et seq.) is amended by adding the following
new section after section 168:
``purchase of oil from marginal wells
``Sec. 169. (a) In General.--From amounts authorized under
section 166, in any case in which the price of oil decreases to
an amount less than $15.00 per barrel (an amount equal to the
annual average well head price per barrel for all domestic
crude oil), adjusted for inflation, the Secretary may purchase
oil from a marginal well at $15.00 per barrel, adjusted for
inflation.
``(b) Definition of Marginal Well.--The term ``marginal
well'' means a well that--
``(1) has an average daily production of 15 barrels
or less;
``(2) has an average daily production of 25 barrels
or less with produced water accounting for 95 percent
or more of total production; or
``(3) produces heavy oil with an API gravity less
than 20 degrees.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--The table of contents for
the Energy Policy and Conservation Act is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 168 the
following:
``Sec. 169. Purchase of oil from marginal wells.''.
(c) Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.--
(1) Amendment.--Title I of the Energy Policy and
Conservation Act is amended by--
(A) redesignating part D as part E;
(B) redesignating section 181 as section 191;
and
(C) inserting after part C the following new
part D:
``Part D--Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve
``establishment
``Sec. 181. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Act, the Secretary may establish, maintain, and operate in the
Northeast a Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. A Reserve
established under this part is not a component of the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve established under part B of this title. A
Reserve established under this part shall contain no more than
2 million barrels of petroleum distillate.
``(b) For the purposes of this part--
``(1) the term `Northeast' means the States of Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey;
and
``(2) the term `petroleum distillate' includes
heating oil and diesel fuel.
``authority
``Sec. 182. To the extent necessary or appropriate to carry
out this part, the Secretary may--
``(1) purchase, contract for, lease, or otherwise
acquire, in whole or in part, storage and related
facilities, and storage services;
``(2) use, lease, maintain, sell, or otherwise
dispose of storage and related facilities acquired
under this part;
``(3) acquire by purchase, exchange (including
exchange of petroleum product from the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve or received as royalty from Federal
lands), lease, or otherwise, petroleum distillate for
storage in the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve;
``(4) store petroleum distillate in facilities not
owned by the United States;
``(5) sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of
petroleum distillate from the Reserve established under
this part; and
``(6) notwithstanding paragraph (5), on terms the
Secretary considers reasonable, sell, exchange, or
otherwise dispose of petroleum distillate from the
Reserve established under this part in order to
maintain the quality or quantity of the petroleum
distillate in the Reserve or to maintain the
operational capability of the Reserve.
``conditions for release; plan
``Sec. 183. (a) The Secretary may release petroleum
distillate from the Reserve under section 182(5) only in the
event of--
``(1) a severe energy supply disruption;
``(2) a severe price increase; or
``(3) another emergency affecting the Northeast,
which the President determines to merit a release from the
Reserve.
``(b) Within 45 days of the date of the enactment of this
section, the Secretary shall transmit to the President and, if
the President approves, to the Congress a plan describing--
``(1) the acquisition of storage and related
facilities or storage services for the Reserve;
``(2) the acquisition of petroleum distillate for
storage in the Reserve;
``(3) the anticipated methods of disposition of
petroleum distillate from the Reserve; and
``(4) the estimated costs of establishment,
maintenance, and operation of the Reserve.
The storage of petroleum distillate in a storage facility that
meets existing environmental requirements is not a `major
Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human
environment' as that term is used in section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
``northeast home heating oil reserve account
``Sec. 184. (a) Upon a decision of the Secretary of Energy to
establish a Reserve under this part, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall establish in the Treasury of the United States
an account known as the `Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve
Account' (referred to in this section as the `Account').
``(b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit in the
Account any amounts appropriated to the Account and any
receipts from the sale, exchange, or other disposition of
petroleum distillate from the Reserve.
``(c) The Secretary of Energy may obligate amounts in the
Account to carry out activities under this part without the
need for further appropriation, and amounts available to the
Secretary of Energy for obligation under this section shall
remain available without fiscal year limitation.
``exemptions
``Sec. 185. An action taken under this part--
``(1) is not subject to the rulemaking requirements
of section 523 of this Act, section 501 of the
Department of Energy Organization Act, or section 553
of title 5, United States Code; and
``(2) is not subject to laws governing the Federal
procurement of goods and services, including the
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of
1949 (including the Competition in Contracting Act) and
the Small Business Act.''.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out part D of title I of the Energy
Policy and Conservation Act.