House Refinery Bill Squeaks by

Responding to fuel shortages and soaring energy prices in the wake of the recent hurricanes, the House of Representatives on Oct. 7 narrowly passed legislation that would encourage the construction of new refineries in the U.S.

Lawmakers voted 212 to 210 in favor of the measure crafted by House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Joe L. Barton (R-Texas) after Republican leaders extended the roll call by 40 minutes while they lobbied their own members to switch votes and support the bill. Democrats denounced the GOP for abusing parliamentary procedures and said the bill would do nothing to ease energy costs this winter.

The legislation, which now goes to the Senate, would streamline the government permitting process for approving new refinery projects, open federal lands including closed military bases for future refinery construction, and limit to six the number of fuel blends that refiners are required to produce to reduce urban air pollution.

Barton said that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made clear that the U.S. needs additional refinery capacity, especially new facilities outside the Gulf Coast region. No new refinery has been built in the U.S. since Marathon Oil's 245,000-barrels-per-day facility at Garyville, La., was completed in 1976. "We use 21 million bbl of oil a day and only have the refinery capacity for 16 million on a good day. And after Katrina and Rita, we haven't had many good days," Barton said.

Before taking the measure to the floor, House leaders dropped a controversial provision that would have eased Clean Air Act new source review rules that require industrial facilities to install new pollution controls when an expansion project results in increased emissions.

The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and other industry groups welcomed the House action, but environmental activists said the legislation would hand the profit-rich oil industry unneeded benefits. "It is time for Congress to put real solutions to work to help lower energy prices and cut Americas oil dependence instead of weakening environmental protections and subsidizing the oil industry," said David Hamilton, director of the Sierra Club's energy program.