Energy and Commerce Leaders Welcome Court Ruling to Block January 1 Implementation of Costly EPA Rule Affecting Power Plants

December 31, 2011. WASHINGTON, DC – Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY), chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Energy and Power Subcommittee, welcomed a last-minute ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to delay the January 1, 2012 effective date of one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s costly rules affecting power plants. The ruling delays implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule until the Court can make a final decision on the regulation, which has been challenged by several states and which is one of several rules that are projected to put American jobs at risk.

“When it comes to something as simple as keeping the lights on and keeping electricity rates affordable, we shouldn’t need a federal court to step in and tell a government agency to stop threatening our power supplies and jobs. Unfortunately, that’s what it came to in this case,” said Upton. “The EPA’s unprecedented rash of regulations will cost our economy tens of billions of dollars and put at risk tens of thousands of jobs, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Congress has voted numerous times in the last year to rein in this agency and press for a more sensible approach to regulations – one that gives utilities and other affected facilities the time they need to comply with rules that are achievable in the real world and does not unnecessarily put jobs at risk. This Court ruling is just the latest signal that EPA has gone too far.”

“I am pleased that the DC Circuit Court granted a motion to stay the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule,” said Whitfield. “This decision is a major win for consumers because CSAPR is estimated to increase electricity rates, threaten electric reliability, and unfairly penalize electricity generated from coal. This rule combined with other recently finalized and pending EPA regulations have been estimated to put at risk 1.6 million jobs and cost consumers nearly $21 billion per year. Not only do these rules, including CSAPR, have major impacts on our economy at a time when our unemployment rate is still high, but many are also concerned that these rules could threaten electricity reliability causing a major security threat to our nation. The DC Circuit Court’s decision is another reason why the Senate needs to immediately pass H.R. 2401, which the House passed this past summer and which contains my amendment to address the CSAPR rule permanently.

http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=9178

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Communications and Technology Subcommittee Approves Legislation to Increase Transparency and Efficiency at FCC

November 16, 2011. WASHINGTON, DC. The House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), today approved the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2011 (H.R. 3309) by a vote of 14 to 9, and the Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2011 (H.R. 3310) by voice vote. These bills improve the way the FCC operates by increasing transparency, predictability, and consistency as part of Republicans’ ongoing effort to ensure the commission’s work encourages job creation, investment, and innovation.

“The legislation we approved today—the FCC Process Reform Act and the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act—is the fruits of our own six-month, open and transparent legislative process,” said Walden. “In response to the views presented at our hearings, as well as additional input from commissioners, stakeholders and colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we refined the draft legislation to create these two bills. In large part, the legislation asks the FCC to go through a process similar to what we’ve gone through in crafting this bill and to implement some of the reforms that the House itself adopted just this year.”

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said, “The communications and technology sector is one of the largest drivers of our economy and one that continues to create high-quality jobs despite the sluggish national economy. Consistency and transparency from the FCC will not only produce better decisions, they will help create confidence and certainty that will promote increased investment, innovation, and jobs. Expecting transparency and accountability from Congress and from federal agencies should be a nonpartisan issue. I’m glad to support these bills so that America’s small businesses, entrepreneurs, and job creators can actually see what their government is doing.”
Legislative Summary

Protecting Jobs by Ensuring Regulatory Benefits Outweigh Costs

• Require the Commission to survey the state of the marketplace through a Notice of Inquiry before initiating new rulemakings to ensure the Commission has an up-to-date understanding of the rapidly evolving and job-creating communications marketplace.
• Require the Commission to identify a market failure, consumer harm, or regulatory barrier to investment before adopting economically significant rules. After identifying such an issue, the Commission must demonstrate that the benefits of regulation outweigh the costs while taking into account the need for regulation to impose the least burden on society.
• Require the Commission to establish performance measures for all program activities so that when the Commission spends hundreds of millions of federal or consumer dollars, Congress and the public have a straightforward means of seeing what bang we’re getting for our buck.
• Apply to the Commission, an independent agency, the regulatory reform principles that President Obama endorsed in his January 2011 Executive Order.
• Prevent regulatory overreach by requiring any conditions imposed on transactions to be within the Commission’s existing authority and be tailored to transaction-specific harms.

Promoting Transparency, Fairness, and Efficiency in Commission Operations

• Enhance consistency and transparency in the Commission’s operations by requiring the FCC to establish and disclose its own internal procedures for:
  • adequate review and deliberation regarding pending orders,
  • publication of orders before open meetings,
  • initiation of items by bipartisan majorities, and
  • minimum public review periods for statistical reports and ex parte communications.
• Require the FCC to establish its own “shot clocks” so that parties know how quickly they can expect action in certain proceedings and provide a schedule for when reports would be released.
• Empower the Commission to operate more efficiently through reform of the “sunshine” rules, allowing a bipartisan majority of Commissioners to meet for collaborative discussions subject to transparency safeguards.

Simplifying Reporting Requirements

• Consolidate eight, separate congressionally mandated reports on the communications industry into a single comprehensive report with a focus on intermodal competition, deploying communications capabilities to unserved communities, eliminating regulatory barriers, and empowering small businesses.

Members Discuss Natural Gas Revolution With Leading Energy Experts

November 15, 2011. WASHINGTON, DC – Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee met with leading energy policy experts this week to discuss the natural gas revolution. Hosted by Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), Monday’s bipartisan Jobs and Innovation Forum explored how new technologies to capture shale gas have transformed the nation’s energy landscape and economy. In recent years, our ability to access massive supplies of natural gas has brought down energy prices, created hundreds of thousands of jobs, and generated billions of dollars in economic output.

"It is clear the natural gas revolution is here to stay and the economic impact of natural gas development is great, bringing tens of thousands of jobs to different states, like my home state of Ohio, that have shale formations," said Latta. "The key to harnessing positive economic development is striking the right regulatory balance that allows for job creation, energy innovation, and environmental safety across this country. This meeting was one of many conversations that will help legislators develop pro-growth policies in the shale arena."

Daniel Yergin, Chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates and author of The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, described the dramatic job growth that has resulted from shale gas development. “This is the biggest energy innovation of its scale in the last 20-30 years, and with that has come an enormous growth in jobs,” said Yergin. “We are taking about hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been created since this technology has been developed. And the impacts in terms of supply chains reach very deep into our economy.”

Cal Dooley, President of the American Chemistry Council, spoke about the positive impacts of natural gas development on chemical manufacturing in the U.S and predicted that the chemical industry is “poised to see a tremendous growth domestically.” Dooley cited a new ACC study showing a 25% increase in natural gas supply would result in $16 billion in capital investments from the chemical industry, creating more than 400,000 new jobs and generating over $4.4 billion in government revenue. “If we do the shale gas right, it has the potential to really contribute to a renaissance in manufacturing in the United States,” said Dooley.

Conversations also focused on the safety of hydraulic fracturing and the regulation of natural gas drilling. Panelists agreed that state regulators are the most competent at managing risks and providing regulatory oversight. David Neslin, Director of the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, described Colorado’s successful regulatory framework which he believes “strikes a responsible balance” of promoting development and offering adequate protections.

Larry Nichols, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Devon Energy, touted the strong safety record of hydraulic fracturing, a drilling process that has been practiced for over 50 years. He noted that there has never been one instance where natural gas has leaked into groundwater from fracking. Nichols pledged the industry’s commitment to the continued advancement of drilling technologies to make natural gas extraction more efficient and environmentally friendly.

In addition to Rep. Latta, members attending Monday’s forum included Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX), Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK), Rep. Michael C. Burgess M.D. (R-TX), Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS), and Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA).

Committee Releases Report on the Workload of the Federal Communications Commission

November 15, 2011.WASHINGTON, DC–The House Energy and Commerce Committee today released a report on the Workload of the Federal Communications Commission. The report is a summary of data, requested by Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL), regarding the number of complaints, petitions, applications, and other pending items at the Commission.

Walden said, “This staff report confirms what everyone already knows: Chairman Genachowski has improved many of the processes of the Commission, but there is much work left to be done. That’s why it’s so important to move forward with process reform legislation now, so that the agency locks in the gains it has already made, and so that the public will see it continue to improve into the future.”

Stearns said, “As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, I have challenged agencies to rid themselves of unnecessary regulations and provide certainty to the industries they regulate. The Federal Communications Commission’s recent closing of 999 dockets signifies Chairman Genachowski’s commitment to good process, but much more needs to be done. Thousands of petitions and licenses have been pending at the Commission for more than five years, and the FCC has missed its own internal deadlines 29 percent of the time. The Commission has also repeatedly missed deadlines set by Congress, including the release of the Satellite Competition Report and Video Programming Report. Congress has tasked the FCC with reviewing the competitive landscapes of these industries annually in order to determine the appropriate regulatory framework. How can the agency appropriately regulate an industry it has not comprehensively analyzed since 2008? I hope the FCC will work on these shortcomings and show signs of improvement by its next report due in January. In the meantime, I will work with my colleagues on FCC process reform legislation.”

The Communications and Technology Subcommittee will vote tomorrow on H.R. 3309, the “Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2011,” and H.R. 3310, the “Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2011.” These bills will improve the way the FCC operates by increasing transparency, predictability, and consistency as part of Republicans’ ongoing effort to ensure the commission’s work encourages job creation, investment, and innovation. Text of the legislation as well as a background memo can be found here.