Washington, D.C. — Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici today thanked Senate and House Democrats and their staff for the contributions they have made to the draft conference report currently under discussion. He cited this conference as one of the most open he has participated in and invited further input from Democrat conferees. Chairman Domenici’s statement: “I have conducted many House-Senate conferences on federal budgets, energy bills and appropriations bills as a Senate chairman. The present House-Senate energy conference is the most open to the public, to other Senators and Members of Congress, and to the media of any conference I have participated in. “I continue to invite suggestions and revisions. All proposals will certainly be considered.” Half of the changes made to the second discussion draft of the energy conference report were made at the request of Democrat senators, House members or Democrat staff during the last two weeks of bipartisan conferee staff editing meetings. A small sample of those changes are listed below: Senator Dorgan’s staff requested that the second discussion draft include a the provision on fly ash requiring agencies to increase the use of cement and concrete incorporating recovered mineral components when doing projects that involves the procurement of concrete. Per Senator Dorgan’s request, the language is now in the bill. Since the second draft was circulated, Senator Dorgan’s staff has requested an earmark in the clean coal provision that would pay for the construction of a lignite plant in North Dakota. Lignite is a form of coal that exists in abundance in North Dakota. Senator Bingaman’s committee staff have requested and received dozens of changes in the energy bill. The geothermal provision in the renewable fuels section was extensively rewritten to accommodate Democrat committee staff. Areas with rich gas and oil reserves, including Great Lakes and Finger Lakes, have been taken out of production at the request Senator Clinton, Senator Schumer and others. The Indian provision was rewritten at the request of Senator Bingaman’s committee staff after Senator Bingaman’s attempt to amend that provision failed on the Senate floor. Senator Domenici’s committee staff worked closely with Senator Bingaman’s staff through August and September to address Senator Bingaman’s concerns. Senator Bingaman’s committee staff requested and received the several changes to the hydropower provision that were made in the second discussion draft. Representative Dingell and Senator Bingaman requested and received the deletion of language in Section 2 and 3 of the oil and gas title regarding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Committee staff inserted language in the conference report that will increase penalties in the Natural Gas Act for violations of this act in response to a request from Senator Feinstein and with the support of Senator Bingaman. The language included in the draft was written by Senator Feinstein’s staff. Committee staff have worked closely with Rep. Markey’s staff to accommodate their requests in the nuclear title. Several changes were made in the nuclear provision for Rep. Markey. Two of those changes are: Requiring the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to consult with Homeland Security regarding the suitability of any new plant site to assure adequate protection against terrorists and providing the NRC with authority to demand manifests of nuclear shipments and background checks on personnel involved in such shipments. ###