On July 30th the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 by a bipartisan vote of 18-4. The bill, sponsored by Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Cantwell (D-WA), is the first large-scale update to U.S. energy policy in nearly a decade. As the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senators Murkowski and Cantwell set a mood of compromise during the markup, insisting the bill remain bipartisan. They warned fellow Committee Members that they would oppose amendments from both sides of the aisle that threatened this goal, even if they agreed with those amendments on ideological grounds. Members were encouraged to withdraw amendments on contentious topics, such as offshore oil permitting, the Keystone Pipeline, and climate change. Their hope, as Senator Cantwell stated, was “that bipartisanship will carry us to the Senate floor."
The bill, touted as “a bipartisan bill for a new era of energy in America,” contains five sections each addressing a critical aspect of energy policy: efficiency, infrastructure, supply, accountability, and conservation. It emphasizes the need to invest in critical infrastructure, new energy technologies, modernizing and protecting the energy grid, expanding the US domestic energy supply and trade, and establishing a comprehensive energy and manufacturing workforce program. Notably, the bill lacks policies on nuclear energy, coal mining, oil and gas development, and investment in wind and solar power, which are more contentious.
The bill incorporates a number of energy-related bills introduced earlier this year. This includes a 4% increase of authorized funding for each of the next 5 years for energy research and development at the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). This section, introduced by Senator Alexander (R-TN), is the DOE portion of the COMPETES bill, which authorizes the DOE, National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Senate has yet to release a complete COMPETES reauthorization bill this year, but the DOE section within this bill is in keeping with the spirit of the original 2007 COMPETES Act, which calls for robust increases in basic research funding. The bill also incorporates the 21st Century Energy Workforce bill, an effort to establish a comprehensive energy and manufacturing workforce program. The development of new technologies, expansion of new energy sectors, and the expected retirement of large amounts of the workforce have created a need for new workers in the energy and manufacturing sectors. This legislation directs the DOE to establish a “21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board, to develop a strategy for the support and development of a skilled energy workforce”. It also creates “a pilot program to award grants on a competitive basis…for job training programs that lead to an industry-recognized credential.”
The bill also incorporates the American Mineral Security Act, which outlines steps to be taken to identify, evaluate, and secure the U.S. critical mineral supply. It “requires the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to establish a list of minerals critical to the American economy and provides a comprehensive set of policies to address issues associated with their discovery, production, use, and re-use.” This section also authorizes the DOE to continue programs aimed at reducing demand for critical minerals through recycling, efficiency, and identification of alternatives. It tasks the USGS to work with the Department of Labor (DOL), NSF, and academia to support critical mineral workforce development. The DOL is responsible for assessing the current critical minerals workforce needs, and the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Engineering are charged with developing curricula to address those needs. The bill also streamlines permitting for new mines on federal lands, provisions on which environmental and mining groups remain deeply divided.
The bill also reauthorizes the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program at $5 million annually from 2017 to 2026. The program, administered by the USGS, establishes state-federal partnerships through 100% state-matched grants to facilitate the acquisition, archiving, and storage of geological data. Despite the program receiving bipartisan support in committee, the program has remained underfunded since its inception in 2005. This reauthorization, although a reduction from the previous authorization of $30 million per year, is a marked increase from the $1 million usually appropriated for the program.
The “mega-markup” was spread over three days, giving staff the opportunity to discuss amendments between each session. Each day began with a vote on the resulting bipartisan amendments as a “Manager’s Amendments” package. Members also introduced amendments for individual votes as a way to bring up topics important to them. A few contentious amendments were introduced and voted down during the markup including Senator Sanders’ Sense of the Senate climate change amendment. Sanders’ amendment set out to put members on record as agreeing or disagreeing that “climate change is real…caused by humans…has already caused devastating problems,” and that “it is imperative that the United States transform the energy system of the United States away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency and sustainable energy as rapidly as possible.” During the debate, Sanders emphasized that energy policy discussions must include climate change. “At the end of the day, the United States Congress is going to have to determine whether it believes in science or not," he said. "That's the precursor to everything else.”
The committee also passed a separate bill, entitled Offshore Production and Energizing National Security Act of 2015, along an almost party line vote of 12-10. This bill lifts the 40-year ban on crude oil exports, speeds up liquefied natural gas exports, and increases state revenue-sharing for offshore oil and gas development -- more contentious topics that if included in the larger energy bill would have made bipartisan support difficult.
After advancing through the Committee, The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 now awaits a vote on the Senate floor, where many of the amendments withdrawn or voted down will likely be reintroduced.