Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici and ranking Senator Jeff Bingaman today announced the date for an April Conference on Climate Change and guidelines for submitting responses to the February 2nd White Paper.

Submittal Due Date:  Monday, March 13th at 5:00pm (EST)

Submittal Address:    Climate_Conference@energy.senate.gov

Conference Date:      Tuesday, April 4th, 2006

Time and Place:         9:30-Noon and 2:30-5:00 in a room TBD

In order to facilitate the April 4th Climate Conference, please use the following form and directions. 

The February 2nd White Paper (http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=IssueItems.View&IssueItem_ID=33) poses four basic questions (and thirty-one clarifying questions) about design elements of a mandatory market-based greenhouse gas regulatory system.  We invite interested parties to respond to the questions.  Responses to each question should address the design of a “mandatory market-based system” contemplated by the June 22nd Sense of the Senate Resolution.  Responses may address any one or more of the listed questions.  Please use the attachments at http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Conferences.Detail&Event_id=4&Month=4&Year=2006 to respond.  Do not renumber or rearrange the order of the questions.  To the extent that there is overlap in your responses, please repeat any overlap in each question. 

All submitted proposals must adhere to the following rules.  Submittals that do not will be returned to senders.  These rules are necessary to facilitate the review of the submittals by the Senators and Staff and to allow for posting of selected answers to the Committee website. 

Conference Submittal Rules

•           There is no limit to the length of responses. 

•           Use 12 point Times New Roman font.

•           There are FOUR main questions.  Submit your response to each question as a separate word document.  Using the separate response attachments will make review and web posting of selected proposals much less difficult.

•           Within each Question document, respond to the clarifying question(s) of your choice by starting a new page.                 

•           Each submitter should fill out ONE executive summary explaining which questions are being answered and a summary of those responses (not to exceed one page).

•           Thus, if you chose to answer all of the questions, you will submit a total of FIVE documents.

•           If you wish to respond to an issue that is not covered by the White Paper but related to the design of mandatory market-based systems, please use the designated Word document.

•           Insert your name and affiliation in the header of your responses.

FAILURE TO STRICTLY FOLLOW THE RULES OUTLINED ABOVE WILL RESULT IN YOUR PROPOSAL BEING RETURNED TO SENDER.

Additional charts, graphics, or specific legislative language are also welcome and may be attached as a separate appendix to the responses.

Submittals must be e-mailed to Climate_Conference@energy.senate.gov  no later than 5 p.m. (EST) on March 13th, 2006. 

Staff contacts for the conference are John Peschke and Jonathan Black.   

All submittals will be reviewed; however, only a limited number of participants can be invited to participate in the conference to be held on Tuesday, April 4th, between 9:30-Noon and 2:30-5:00 in a room TBD.  The limitation is necessary to manage the meeting and permit a useful exchange of ideas.  All efforts will be made to ensure that a variety of stakeholders and recommendations on the design of a mandatory market-based greenhouse gas regulatory system are represented. 

Participants for the Conference will be notified by March 28th.

The submittals to be discussed at the meeting will be posted in advance on the Committee website at http://energy.senate.gov/public/ .

Submittals received after the March 13th deadline will be reviewed by staff and maintained in a file, but will not be considered for participation in the Conference.

Chairman Domenici will lead and moderate the conference.  Other members of the Senate Energy Committee may be in attendance.  The meeting will be open to the public and media. 

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