Washington, D.C. – Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, have notified Senate leadership that they are left with no alternative but to oppose allowing the conference report on H.R. 889, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, to proceed to a final vote on the floor  unless a provision in the report that runs directly contrary to Section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is fixed.

The offending provision prohibits the construction of an offshore wind facility in the Nantucket Sound if the project is opposed in writing by the Governor of Massachusetts.

Both senators are strong advocates for renewable energy and believe the language in the Coast Guard bill will have a chilling effect on future investments in renewable energy projects on federal lands.

In a May 3 letter to Majority Leader Frist and Minority Leader Reid, the two senators said they will seek to block final passage of the report unless both the House and Senate pass a correcting resolution to remove the offending provision or substitute the original provision from the House bill. The House provision does not give veto authority to a governor.

Section 388 of EPAct05, comprehensive energy legislation written by Domenici and Bingaman, gives the Secretary of the Interior in consultation with Secretary of the Department in which the coast guard is operating the authority to grant leases and rights of way for energy production on the Outer Continental Shelf, including wind energy. The energy bill requires consultation with state and local governments but does not give them veto authority.

Domenici:

“The provision in the Coast Guard conference report is absolutely contrary to our nation’s growing preference for clean, renewable energy. It sets a terrible precedent. I think would it be a very bad idea to give states veto authority over the siting of renewable energy projects on federal land in a bid to stop a particular project. In the energy bill, we gave states a strong voice and a key role in siting renewable projects on the OCS. That is sufficient. I am pleased to join with my colleague and good friend Jeff Bingaman in opposing final passage of this conference report unless the problem is fixed.”

Bingaman:

“I oppose anti-renewable energy provisions in the Coast Guard conference report.  A fair process to review renewable energy projects in Federal waters already exists.  A regulatory review of the Cape Wind project is underway.  To invent a new regulatory process designed simply to deliver a negative result would chill future investment in renewable energy.  We need more energy sources like wind to moderate the high prices that Americans are paying for electricity, natural gas and home heating oil.  I hope we can move forward with a clean bill to reauthorize important Coast Guard programs and not have to hold them up for such an unjustifiable provision.”

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