Domenici Announces Agreement on Bipartisan OCS Legislation
July 12, 2006
04:20 PM
Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici today announced an agreement has been reached among a bipartisan group of senators on legislation aimed at increasing energy production in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chairman Domenici’s statement:
“I am pleased that an agreement has been reached on oil and natural gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Passing this bill is the most important thing we can do in the near term to impact the price of natural gas and boost our domestic energy supply. The American consumer is increasingly burdened with high energy costs. This legislation will address that problem in a very real way by providing greater access to American energy sources and lessening our dependence on imports.
“I applaud the House for recently taking action to increase access to American oil and gas resources in the OCS. I hope with this agreement the Senate will also be able to act, and that we will get a bill to the President that will have a real, immediate impact on American energy security.”
On March 8 the Senate Energy Committee passed S. 2253, the Lease Sale 181 bill, out of committee by a bipartisan vote of 16-5. The agreement announced today builds upon S. 2253 by granting coastal states a 125-mile buffer through the year 2022 and establishing a revenue-sharing system for the Gulf-producing states, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Federal Treasury.
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