Government Executive - Authors - Darren Goode

Salazar to seek funding for drilling inspectors

Amy Harder and Darren Goode — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar intends to ask Congress in the coming days for more funding to increase more than fivefold the number of inspectors enforcing offshore oil and natural gas drilling rules.

"Without a doubt, the need to have a robust agency that can go out and do the proper level of inspection and enforcement cannot be done with the resource levels that [Minerals Management Service] has today," Salazar told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee at a hearing Thursday.

He noted that 62 inspectors are responsible for nearly 4,000 drilling activities in the Gulf of Mexico. "It's extraordinary and woefully inadequate," he said. "We will need an additional 330 [full-time employees] in the area of inspection and enforcement and environmental compliance."

The energy committee's hearing examined legislative proposals addressing the implications of the Gulf oil spill, including ramping up Interior's inspections in the Outer Continental Shelf, overhauling Interior's ethics policy and improving drilling technology.

The department's request will come as an amendment to its fiscal 2011 budget, which in February originally asked for only six more inspectors for MMS. The agency no longer exists as a single entity but has been split into three distinct agencies, the Bureaus of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

Salazar said after testifying in the hearing that he is having his staff -- including Michael Bromwich, recently appointed by President Obama and Salazar to lead the reform efforts -- "dig down to make sure that when we make the request for additional inspectors and enforcement personnel that we have the right number in place." He left the door open to requesting more than increased personnel.

In a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, the subpanel chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., warned Salazar that the window to submit additional requests is small. She noted that Democratic leadership has told senators to mark up legislation.

"So if you're going to submit something in addition to six inspectors you've submitted, we're going to work in a very strict cap," Feinstein told Salazar. "So if you can get that into us quickly, that'd be appreciated."

At Thursday 's hearing, Salazar faced more questions on the administration's six-month moratorium, which a federal judge overruled this week. He reiterated what he said in Wednesday's hearing that the administration stands firm in its belief a moratorium needs to be in place, and he intends to implement another ban that includes new criteria justifying it. The Associated Press reported Thursday that for now, the department is complying with the judge's ruling and not enforcing the original moratorium.

The hearing Thursday provided a forum for several senators, including Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Sens. Scott Brown, R-Mass., Mark Udall, D-Colo., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., to discuss their respective pieces of legislation addressing the Gulf disaster.

Bingaman's bill, which is co-sponsored by the panel's top Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., aims to update environmental, safety and oversight standards for offshore drilling projects.

Menendez's bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., seeks to end what he called Thursday at the hearing a "revolving door" between the oil industry and the former MMS. It includes various measures limiting or prohibiting regulators' relationship with the oil companies they work with.

Udall's legislation would restructure an Energy Department program that focuses on increasing oil production to instead focus on safety and accident prevention.

Brown's bill, co-sponsored by Feinstein, would require stricter reviews of companies' oil spill response plans.

Bingaman said after the hearing that he hopes to mark up these bills next week and cobble together an overall oil-spill package to report out of his committee.

Meanwhile, across the Capitol, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.V., released a draft plan to put his stamp on growing efforts to firm up safety and oversight of offshore drilling in response to the growing Gulf oil spill.

The West Virginia Democrat's discussion draft updates a plan he first introduced in September to change federal energy resources law, in part by codifying the Obama administration's effort to break up the Minerals Management Service into three bureaus and separate federal safety and environmental enforcement from project approval and revenue collection on offshore oil and gas drilling. But Rahall's plan goes further by including onshore drilling. His panel will hold a hearing on his draft June 30.

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Salazar: Oil drilling hiatus may be shorter

Darren Goode — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday left open the possibility that a six-month moratorium on deep-water oil and gas drilling may not last that long -- a possible laurel to Gulf Coast senators from both parties who are concerned about its effects in their states.

"It's a situation we will access as we move forward, and we will adjust accordingly," Salazar said after testifying for the second time before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee since the April 20 explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig and subsequent massive oil spill.

Salazar said the moratorium is in place to give a bipartisan commission -- led by former Florida Democratic Sen. Bob Graham and former EPA Administrator William Reilly -- time to put together a list of recommendations on offshore drilling safety. "If the commission were to report earlier" than six months, the hiatus "might change," Salazar said.

When Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., asked whether the moratorium will be lifted at six months, Salazar said, "I don't know today."

His testimony came as Gulf Coast senators have questioned the scientific justification for the ban.

Eight of 15 engineers cited in the appendix of a May 27 report that Salazar gave President Obama offering recommendations for improving offshore drilling safety say administration officials are falsely implying they agree with the report's main recommendation to temporarily halt all offshore drilling for six months.

"There is an implication that we have somehow agreed to or 'peer reviewed' the main recommendation of that report," they wrote Louisiana Sens. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, and David Vitter, a Republican, and the state's governor, Republican Bobby Jindal. "This is not the case."

The engineers say the report does not justify the scope of the moratorium and that it "will not contribute measurably to increased safety and will have immediate and long-term economic effects." They say an argument could be made that it is "counterproductive to long-term safety."

Salazar said of the engineers, "It was not their decision on the moratoria. It was my decision, the president's decision."

Landrieu told Salazar the potential economic cost of the moratorium "could be devastating to our state and to the Gulf Coast."

"We can pause; we cannot stop," she told CongressDaily afterward. "And the pause cannot be very long. I don't know if there's a magic number, but six months is too long."

She expressed concerns that it could be as long as nine months, given the possible time needed to review the report's recommendations after it is issued.

But she did note that Obama has signaled it may not take the full six months for the commission to finish its work. "I don't think that the administration has dug in," Landrieu said.

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Salazar: MMS has 'turned the ship'

Darren Goode — Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a House panel Wednesday his department will have zero tolerance in dealing with ethical lapses at its Minerals Management Service as it engages in a "relentless" effort to stem the oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico each day.

In the wake of a new Interior inspector general report detailing indiscretions involving Louisiana MMS inspectors between 2005 and 2007, which include receiving gifts from industry officials and using illegal drugs, Salazar told the House Natural Resources Committee that the department has "turned the ship and we have been making progress."

"Those bad apples will be rooted out with every power that we have," he said.

While he noted the IG report details actions under the prior administration, he said the department under his direction might need to take further steps. "We will have a tough hand" in addressing ethical problems, he said. "We came into this department to clean up that mess and to clean up this house."

Salazar has asked the department's acting Inspector General Mary Kendall "to look specifically into conduct of MMS employees that would update the report," he said. "Because I want to know whether or not the ethical mandates and orders ... have been effective."

In her prepared testimony for Wednesday's hearing, Kendall said the findings of the latest report are "arguably less egregious and considerably less salacious" than a report released in 2008 chronicling sex parties, drug use and other indiscretions at an MMS Denver office between 2002 and 2006.

She added that she is more concerned "about the environment in which these inspectors operate, and the ease with which they move between industry and government."

In the first of a planned series of seven hearings on the oil spill in the House panel, Salazar said the administration is engaged in an unprecedented effort to address the growing oil spill.

But panelists in both parties questioned whether there was enough done by the department in this and prior administrations before the spill to prevent or limit its damage.

"We're still shoveling sand on the beach," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., referencing a major spill that occurred off of Santa Barbara in 1969. "It seems we don't learn anything from prior spills," Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said.

Salazar countered that the response to the Gulf spill is the largest effort to address a spill in U.S. history. "You wouldn't see this kind of response now under way in the Gulf if lessons from the past hadn't been learned," he told the panel.

Salazar left the hearing shortly after noon to monitor BP's attempt to stem the leak using a "top kill" method of injecting drilling mud and potentially other items, such as golf balls and pieces of tire, to stem the leak. If that fails, he said, the next option would be to put a cap over the well.

But Flake said the administration was slow to give Louisiana officials an emergency permit for a state plan to dredge and build barrier islands to safeguard marshes and wetlands. It "seems to be a typical federal bureaucrat response," he said.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, has also expressed frustration with the delay. But Salazar said the proposal was still under discussion.

"One thing we don't want to do is move forward with something" that would end up harming the environment further, he said.

Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes told the panel that the department will likely submit new recommendations to President Obama Thursday to shore up offshore drilling safety.

While most Republicans questioned whether the administration has done enough to stem the spill, Democrats went after BP and the broader oil and gas industry, including its past claims that there was only minimal risk of a spill.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., suggested there was an incentive for BP to give a low-end estimate of 5,000 barrels leaking a day to avoid higher civil penalties in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Salazar responded by saying there would indeed be a "financial interest" in BP giving a low estimate early on "because liability does apply."

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Alaska senator urges restraint on spill reaction

Andy Leonatti and Darren Goode — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Senate Energy and Natural Committee Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Friday urged Congress not to overreact legislatively to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Speaking at a conference sponsored by the University of Virginia's Center for Oceans Law and Policy, Murkowski said investigations into the cause of the spill should "guide us in our decision-making" when it comes time to make new regulations, but too much was still unknown.

Murkowski and other Republicans have blocked Senate Democratic attempts to raise to $10 billion the $75 million cap on how much a company is liable for economic damages resulting from a spill.

She hoped that exploratory drilling would still begin this summer off the coast of her home state of Alaska. "[Alaska needs] to be given the chance to prove that we can explore safely," she said, noting that the spill did not change U.S. demand for oil.

Meanwhile, 78 House Democrats -- led by Reps. Jay Inslee of Washington and Lois Capps of California -- wrote to President Obama on Thursday to ask for a delay in the exploratory Arctic Ocean drilling until the Gulf spill has been investigated and until the administration "has subsequently put into place improved and rigorous prevention technology requirements," according to their letter.

Obama halted drilling permits from being issued until Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gives him a set of safety recommendations, which are expected this month.

Administration officials have not been immune to criticism regarding their actions before and after the spill, including not moving away from an initial joint BP-government estimate that roughly 5,000 barrels of oil has been leaking from the sunken rig daily.

BP conceded on Thursday that more oil than the company had estimated has been leaking every day. The company is collecting 5,000 barrels of oil a day from a mile-long tube the company inserted over the weekend, but oil continues to leak from the ruptured well.

Some scientists have estimated that the per-day spill volume has exceeded 70,000 barrels.

But in a statement Friday, BP said some third-party estimates of flow are inaccurate.

Obama administration officials, including Salazar and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Jane Lubchenco, have continued to say the most up-to-date estimate remains 5,000 barrels per day. A government-created technical team is working on a more precise estimate and is required to produce a report by Saturday.

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FAA reauthorization should fly through in June, says lawmaker

Darren Goode — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., predicted Wednesday that a multiyear FAA authorization bill will be signed into law by July 4.

"I think we've made enough progress and we ought to be able to get it done by then," he said. "We are working toward that goal. We'll get there, we'll do it."

House and Senate aides are informally meeting to clear out the underbrush in a bicameral deal, but discussions have not yet started on the contentious items. This includes House language making it easier for FedEx workers to unionize, which Oberstar strongly backs.

FedEx President Fred Smith recently said this dispute was holding up the conference talks.

"There is no delay; don't buy the Fred Smith garbage," Oberstar said.

He also accused Smith of having "bought his way" to securing federal affirmation in 1996 that employees at FedEx Express are correctly regulated under the Railroad Labor Act. "I'm being a little harsh on Mr. Smith, but he's been a little harsh on me," Oberstar said. He clarified, "He worked his way around the Senate very effectively and the Clinton White House as well."

Pro-labor Democrats and main FedEx rival UPS have argued that FedEx -- while initially an airline -- has become predominately a ground carrier and trucking operation subject to the National Labor Relations Act. The labor law allows employees to unionize in localized groups without the need for government mediation, while RLA requires unionization across nationwide classes of employees and a mandatory government-led mediation of contract disputes before a union can strike or an employer can replace an employee or impose terms of a contract.

When asked about Oberstar's comments, FedEx spokesman Maury Lane mainly took the high road.

"Chairman Oberstar could get a better understanding of Mr. Smith's concerns if he held a congressional hearing or took public input on the impact of this UPS bailout legislation," Lane said. "Until then, it would be fruitless to discuss much more on this issue, particularly since UPS has been trying to put itself under the RLA since its airline was created -- a fact Chairman Oberstar constantly ignores or fails to acknowledge."

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House Dems raise fears about another BP project

Darren Goode — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

More than two dozen House Democrats are asking the Interior Department on Thursday to stop another BP drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico, saying they feared it could end up being more damaging than the ongoing spill stemming from BP's collapsed Deepwater Horizon rig.

The 28 Democrats -- led by Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz. -- are sending a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum saying they fear the Deepwater Horizon accident could foreshadow a larger tragedy at the BP Atlantis rig, which is operating in deeper waters.

"A worst-case scenario oil spill from Atlantis, which has been in production since 2007, would exceed the Exxon Valdez spill in only two days," the Democrats said.

The spill stemming from the ruptured well of the Horizon over the past three weeks is believed by some to have exceeded the 10.8 million gallons spilled when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989 in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

"In light of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, it is clear that MMS must promptly and thoroughly investigate whether BP is currently operating safely and adhering to the law with Atlantis," the Democrats say.

Grijalva, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee and at one time a potential candidate to become President Obama's Interior secretary, has been investigating potential safety issues with the Atlantis rig for more than a year.

He and the other Democrats point out in the letter that a whistleblower in March 2009 notified MMS that he believed BP did not have a large percentage of updated and engineer-approved outlines for the rig's subsea components. A subsequent review of a BP database indicated that more than 90 percent of the nearly 7,200 documents and drawings for those components had not been approved by a professional engineer, as required by MMS.

In a 2008 e-mail, BP management "indicated that using these incomplete or inaccurate documents 'could lead to catastrophic operator errors due to their assuming the drawing is correct,'" the Democrats said.

Many of the same House Democrats asked MMS in February to fully investigate this issue, which MMS has since done. "Still, a number of developments occurred during and after the circulation of our letter that concern us," they said.

Among their concerns is that while an MMS report is due this month, the agency has not interviewed the former contractor who was the initial whistleblower, the Democrats argued.

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Obama to establish commission on oil spill as blame game heats up

Darren Goode — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., who has pushed for such a commission, said in a statement it will "ensure that our scrutiny matches the depth and breadth of this human, economic and environmental disaster."

Also on Monday, Chris Oynes, the career executive in charge of offshore oil and gas drilling at the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, told officials he would resign at the end of the month. An Interior official told The Washington Post Oynes was not forced out but resigned of his own accord. Oynes had more than three decades of federal service.

Before news of the commission spread Monday, Senate Environment and Public Works Democrats requested a Justice Department inquiry into whether BP violated civil and criminal law, while federal and BP officials came under bipartisan fire from another Senate panel.

Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer and seven panel Democrats wrote Attorney General Eric Holder seeking an investigation into whether BP "made false and misleading statements to the federal government regarding its ability to respond to oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico."

The Democrats point to a Feb. 23, 2009, document BP submitted to MMS stating that an unanticipated blowout resulting in an oil spill "is unlikely to have an impact" based on the industry equipment and technology standards and the company's regional oil spill response plan.

The Democrats contend that "it does not in any way appear that there was 'proven equipment and technology' to respond to the spill, which could have tragic consequences for local economies and the natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico." A BP spokesman was unable to comment on the letter.

Company officials have admitted they are literally and figuratively in untested waters in trying to stem the flowing of millions of gallons of oil from a well 5,000 feet deep.

Meanwhile, federal and BP officials came under fire Monday by leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for not requiring BP to have a stronger plan to prevent and clean up a major spill.

"As we watched the company, the government trying desperately to figure out how to close this well to stop this spill in the Gulf, we obviously have to conclude that people weren't prepared to do it, weren't prepared to deal with this type of problem," Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman said at a hearing of his panel.

"No one seems to really know what to do when you have this big of spill ... this deep underwater," Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Susan Collins told Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Rear Adm. Peter Neffenger, deputy national incident commander at the Coast Guard. "It feels like you're making it up as you go along," she later told BP America CEO Lamar McKay.

Monday's hearing was the first to feature testimony from administration officials since the April 20 explosion of the BP-run Deepwater Horizon oil rig. But nearly all of the criticism was levied at MMS, which was not represented at Monday's hearing, making it an appetizer for when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar testifies for the first time Tuesday on the spill before both the Senate Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works panels.

"It seems to me that the Minerals Management Service did not ask enough of you ... and the companies didn't do enough themselves," Lieberman told McKay.

Lieberman questioned why BP also was only required to submit a regional plan -- not one specific to Deepwater -- to MMS in December 2000 and again in June 2009.

He noted the response plan said it could use booms, skimming vessels and dispersants. "But as far as I can tell, those methods don't effectively deal with the enormous accumulation of oil under water now in the Gulf," Lieberman said.

As a last resort, BP's plan said it could use a blowout preventer, MMS signed off on as late as June, even though the preventers failed, Lieberman said.

Napolitano told Lieberman there was "an assumption" a blowout preventer "would never fail," evidenced by the plans BP cleared with MMS.

BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward Sunday wrote Napolitano and Salazar indicating the company is expecting economic damages from the spill to exceed the $75 million cap under current law. The company will pay above that limit, will not seek reimbursement from the federal government's Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and "intends to pay all legitimate claims."

Napolitano said her understanding is that means BP will pay all "nonfraudulent" claims, and noted that as of Friday, the company reported it had opened nearly 11,000 claims, disbursed over $6.6 million and has not denied a claim.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., wrote Napolitano asking for "a full accounting of all federal expenses incurred responding to this tragedy, so the public can be sure that BP reimburses the government for every penny spent cleaning up BP's mess."

Menendez and Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., are pushing a plan to raise the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund's $75 million economic liability cap to $10 billion.

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Interior chief says department shares responsibility for cleanup

Darren Goode — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a Senate panel on Tuesday that the department's Minerals Management Service shares the responsibility for not ensuring the safety of a BP-run deepwater drilling rig that has caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In his first testimony since the April 20 explosion of the BP-run Deepwater Horizon rig, Salazar told the Energy and Natural Resources Committee there is a "collective responsibility" for responding to the spill that includes fixing problems at MMS.

"We need to clean up that house," Salazar said.

Chris Oynes, who oversees offshore oil and gas drilling at MMS, announced Monday that he will retire at the end of May.

Salazar said he will soon recommend to President Obama "significant enhancement that could be made" to boost federal offshore drilling safety requirements. He said that move includes looking more closely at blowout preventers -- which BP unsuccessfully used as a last defense against a leak when the rig exploded -- as well as the cementing and sealing of deepwater wells.

He also noted efforts to change the culture at MMS.

"There are some bad apples at MMS, and we have taken care of them," Salazar said. "And to the extent that MMS employees were involved in any kind of negligence here or any other kind of failure, they will also be held accountable."

Obama is setting up an independent commission to investigate the spill, akin to those that investigated both the Three Mile Island nuclear accident and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. "I think there are some lessons to be learned from that," Salazar said, noting the Challenger disaster shut down the space program for more than two years and the Three Mile accident shut down new nuclear power for three decades.

"So how we handle this issue is one of highest importance," Salazar said. "We will find out exactly what happened here."

Salazar last week recommended splitting up MMS to create an independent safety and environmental enforcement entity there.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., cited three "regulatory failures" that preceded the spill, including inadequate federal technical standards regarding the cementing of the well and other areas.

Bingaman also said MMS officials "need to be more fully engaged with industry in reviewing the overall design and implementation" of deepwater wells and better follow-through on how approved spill-response plans are implemented.

Salazar defended the agency's actions since the April 20 accident. Administration officials "have been relentless from day one," including sending Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes to the Gulf "without a change of underwear and without a toothbrush."

But Salazar was grilled over what MMS officials did and did not do before the accident, including not requiring a full environmental review of the BP rig.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said it is "long past time to drain this safety and environmental swamp" at MMS. "This agency has been in denial about safety problems for years," he said.

Salazar said that the lack of relative offshore drilling accidents for years led to lazy oversight. "Did the country as a whole ... become lax? I would say yes," Salazar said.

The Interior Department and White House Council on Environmental Quality last week announced they will review the National Environmental Policy Act procedures at MMS.

Salazar also reiterated that BP "will be held accountable for all costs of the government in responding to the spill and compensation for loss of damages that arise from the spill."

Senate Democrats are looking at a minimum to raise the current $75 million economic liability cap oil companies are required to pay per spill.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said Democrats would talk at their policy lunch on Tuesday about pushing for an unlimited cap.

"We may very well head in that direction," Menendez said.

Menendez made his comments after Republicans objected to a Democratic attempt to unanimously approve a raise of that cap to $10 billion. Republicans also objected to the first attempt by Menendez and other Democrats to do this on the Senate floor last week.

In response to a query at the hearing by Menendez on the appropriate liability cap, Salazar said it "ought to be high enough so that we make sure that the responsible party will be able to live up to whatever consequences."

Later today, Salazar is testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, along with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House CEQ Chairwoman Nancy Sutley.

In related news, BP on Tuesday agreed to a request by Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., to turn over all video showing details of the gulf spill.

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Obama halts new offshore drilling but defends plan

Darren Goode — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

"Let me be clear: I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security," Obama said Friday in a Rose Garden speech focused on the economy. "But I've always said it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment. The local economies and livelihoods of the people of the Gulf Coast, as well as the ecology of the region, are at stake."

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will report back in 30 days "on what, if any, additional precautions and technologies should be required to prevent accidents like this from happening again," Obama said. "And we're going to make sure that any leases going forward have those safeguards."

He also said all deepwater rigs and platforms are being inspected.

But Obama is likely to face stronger resistance from coastal-state Democrats. Four New Jersey Democrats today wrote him to ask that he reverse his decision to open up waters for drilling off the shores of much of the East Coast, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of the Alaskan Arctic region and coast, as well as his call for studies of the oil and natural gas potential in the coastal regions from Delaware to northern Florida.

"In the wake of the tragic accident, loss of life, and pollution in the Gulf of Mexico ... we are even more steadfastly opposed to any offshore drilling that could imperil the environment or economy of coastal New Jersey," said Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and Reps. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt.

Their letter followed an announcement Thursday by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that he will introduce a bill to block the administration from acting on its plans to expand offshore oil and natural gas drilling.

In a letter to Obama, Nelson asked the administration to "postpone indefinitely plans for expanded offshore drilling operations" and called for an "immediate halt to test wells and all other exploratory operations in coastal waters." Nelson said on CNN Friday morning that plans in any climate and energy bill this year to expand offshore drilling are "dead on arrival now."

Obama has dispatched Salazar, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, White House energy adviser Carol Browner and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Jane Lubchenco to the Gulf as reports suggest the spill may have reached land early Friday.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency in several counties Friday, joining Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who declared a state of emergency Thursday.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Friday morning no new drilling will occur while the Deepwater Horizon oil rig spill is under investigation. But he also defended Obama's blueprint for offshore oil and natural gas exploration.

"All he has said is that he's not going to continue the moratorium on drilling, but ... no additional drilling has been authorized and none will until we find out what happened here and whether there was something unique and preventable here," Axelrod said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

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Senate approves FAA bill but fight with House looms

Darren Goode — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The 93-0 vote showcased the popularity of the two-year $34.5 billion bill, which is full of safety, environmental, technology and other updates.

The final vote came after senators agreed to shelve a fight regarding long-range flights to and from Reagan National Airport in Washington. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., withdrew an amendment to allow air carriers that have direct flights to large cities within 1,250 miles of National to divert up to 15 round-trip flights to large cities beyond that perimeter.

Ensign argued the 1,250-mile perimeter rule -- established in 1966 -- is outdated and was intended to boost the then-newly opened Dulles International Airport. He also said it is an issue of fairness regarding flights to and from Reagan, the closest airport to Capitol Hill. "Should just the East Coast and the Midwest have access?" he asked.

The amendment would not have increased the number of Reagan flights overall, but Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said it would mean bigger planes and more passengers, resulting in more air pollution, noise and traffic problems. "There are physical constraints at Reagan National Airport that cannot be ignored" and rules governing the number and distance of flights to and from there "were carefully crafted to take that into consideration," Webb said in prepared remarks.

It would also mean diverting up to 75 shorter-range flights which "would not only have a direct impact on the cities that stand to lose the routes they currently have, but it would also have follow-on effects to flights in smaller markets, as well as flights" at Dulles and Baltimore international airports, he said.

Senate Commerce Committee leaders from both parties praised the amendment, which they worked out with Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and others, and said they will try to address the issue in talks with the House. The amendment was "a reasonable way forward" and a "balanced approach," Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller said.

The Senate bill, intended mainly as a placeholder to give the administration more time to develop a longer-term strategy for modernizing the nation's air traffic control system, avoided most contentious language.

This includes language in a three-year FAA bill the House passed last year making it easier for FedEx workers to unionize, a provision strongly backed by House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar and other pro-labor Democrats. Senate leaders sought to distance themselves from the House bill by using as a vehicle an unrelated House tax bill instead of the House FAA product to overcome an initial filibuster led by both Tennessee Republican senators. FedEx is headquartered in Memphis.

The differences between the House and Senate bills "are pretty big," Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison said. "So I think we're going to have a job cut out for us that means we're not anywhere close to being finished yet."

The Senate bill includes a "passenger bill of rights," which is largely incorporated in a Transportation Department rule limiting tarmac delays. Passenger rights advocates say the bill is needed because that rule could be changed at the discretion of the Transportation secretary. The bill also moves up from 2025 to 2018 the target date for air carriers to install modern avionics equipment.

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Senators seek clean FAA bill

Darren Goode — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Senate Commerce leaders warned both parties Thursday not to bog down Federal Aviation Administration legislation with amendments that might sink the long-awaited aviation update. But their attempt might be complicated as lawmakers shift their focus back to earmarks, with each party trying to gain the upper hand.

The two-year bill, which at the moment enjoys wide support in both parties, "is not a vehicle that can carry a lot of controversial provisions," Commerce Committee ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, warned. "I support most of the amendments that I've heard argued. I just don't support them on this bill."

Her comments came shortly after Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., offered an amendment banning earmarks for fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011, an proposal many Republicans back.

House Republicans Thursday adopted a rule banning all earmarks for the year, an idea that House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other Democratic leaders floated at a leadership meeting Tuesday. House Appropriations Committee Democrats Wednesday announced a ban on earmarks benefiting for-profit companies, which they say would have resulted in 1,000 fewer earmarks if it had been instituted last year.

But Senate Appropriations Democrats have not bought the idea, underscoring the uncertainty over whether final fiscal 2011 spending bills, many of which might not approved until after the midterm election, will be affected much by efforts to limit earmarks.

These efforts include a bipartisan amendment Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., offered to the FAA bill Thursday requiring the Office of Management and Budget to annually identify unused federal transportation earmarks and use the money to help pay down the debt.

"This really shouldn't be a hard decision ... and it really shouldn't be controversial," Feingold said.

Hutchison said "extraneous amendments regardless of the substance ... will kill" the FAA bill.

Commerce Committee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., added the FAA bill amounts to a "feast" for those who "want to bring [in] all of their frustrations about government."

Hutchison asked her colleagues to focus on aviation-related amendments, "of which there are several that are certainly worthy of our discussion."

Congress has extended federal aviation law 11 times as lawmakers have been unable to complete a reauthorization bill the last three years. A 12th extension will almost certainly be needed before the law expires at the end of the month.

The Senate FAA debate will carry forward into next week, and bicameral differences will take time to be worked out. The House approved a three-year bill last year that includes items that are opposed by some senators, including a provision making it easier for FedEx workers to unionize.

Senate Democratic leaders distanced themselves from the House bill -- and particularly the FedEx language -- by having an unrelated House tax bill instead of the chamber's FAA bill be used as the vehicle to carry the Senate FAA plan.

The move appeared to be connected to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., convincing GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee to lift holds they had put on the Senate bill to ensure that the House language affecting the Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx would not be included in an FAA bill sent to the president.

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Mississippi governor seeks to help block EPA move

Darren Goode — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is trying to ramp up support among fellow governors for efforts in Congress to block EPA from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

The former Republican National Committee chairman, a prospective 2012 presidential candidate, is floating a draft letter to governors at their winter meeting this weekend asking Congress to use the Congressional Review Act to reject EPA's endangerment finding. That finding cites climate change as a risk to public health and welfare, which the agency is using as justification for pursuing regulations.

"In addition to placing heavy administrative burdens on state environmental quality agencies, regulating greenhouse gases through the Clean Air Act will be costly to consumers and hurt the U.S. economy, resulting in job losses," according to Barbour's draft.

"Considering the regulatory impacts on electricity and gasoline prices, on the cost of manufactured products, and on the U.S. economy in general, we urge Congress to reject EPA's proposed endangerment finding -- the precursor to harmful regulations," it adds.

This echoes an effort by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is expected to call for a vote on a resolution in March to use the Congressional Review Act to block EPA, spokesman Robert Dillon said.

She needs 51 votes and has 40 co-sponsors for her disapproval resolution, including three Democrats led by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.

Murkowski's effort, and those by Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Joe Barton, R-Texas, and others in the House, are not expected to be successful, given Democratic control of Congress and opposition from the president, who could veto a resolution even if it gets through both chambers.

But it continues to raise the argument that efforts by the Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders to limit U.S. greenhouse gases are serious threats to the economy heading into this fall's elections.

Barbour spokesman Dan Turner confirmed that Barbour, who co-founded a lobbying firm representing electric utilities fighting EPA climate change regulations, is shopping the draft for discussion at this weekend's gathering.

David Quam, director of federal relations for the National Governors Association, said this could happen in the full body or in the 12-member Natural Resources Committee Barbour sits on. "It's been forwarded to us and Gov. Barbour has expressed an interest in at least starting a discussion," Quam said.

Quam said in order for a letter to be sent on NGA letterhead it must represent a consensus among the governors, a process that could extend beyond this weekend's gathering.

"This just came up," he said. "I see this as a start of a discussion." He added, "I'd be out of bounds if I could say what will happen."

Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, said: "Any Democratic governor would look foolish in supporting what's obviously just a reprise of Bush-Cheney."

At the same time, O'Donnell is not taking the effort lightly, given Barbour's prominence. "I take it seriously because he's a serious player," O'Donnell said. "He certainly has a track record of being effective."

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NOAA proposes new climate agency

Darren Goode — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Monday proposed a new climate change service intended to consolidate and improve long-range data and predictions, including rises in sea levels, droughts and other adverse effects.

The plan is modeled on the 140-year-old National Weather Service, which provides short-term information.

"Now we need a climate service ... to really focus on the long-range impacts of climate change," said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. "This will provide a single point of contact, a one-stop shop for businesses and government that need NOAA's high-quality forecasting for making predictions."

House and Senate appropriators would need to approve the restructuring, Locke said. He wants the new climate service to start in fiscal 2011. Thomas Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center, would be the transitional director of the service, which would also have six regional directors.

The service would rely on existing resources but will eventually need additional funds, said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.

The Obama administration's proposal comes amid controversy surrounding some climate data released in a much-heralded report by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which the United States and others have used as justification to try to curb global greenhouse gas emissions.

A 2007 IPCC report contained unsubstantiated figures to conclude the melting of Himalayan glaciers, which officials at the panel said was an accident.

Climate skeptics have pounced on the flub, with Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., last week calling for IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri to resign.

"Every day, new scandals emerge about the so called 'facts' in the UN reports," Barrasso said in a statement. "The integrity of the data and the integrity of the science have been compromised."

Lubchenco Monday defended the IPCC.

"The IPCC has recognized that that particular conclusion was in error," she said. "That said, the vast majority of the conclusions ... are credible, have been through a very rigorous process and are absolutely state of the science, state of the art."

Lubchenco said the inclusion of the glacier data "was unfortunate but quite atypical of the rest of the IPCC," noting the panel "has thousands and thousands of conclusions about specific changes in the climate system, and that most of them have been shown to be quite reliable."

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Democrats slam effort to block EPA from regulating emissions

Darren Goode — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Senate Environment and Public Works Democrats Tuesday unanimously pressed other senators to oppose the effort of Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

"Debating policy choices regarding the appropriate response to unchecked climate change is fair, and the Senate will continue to evaluate the best tools for addressing greenhouse gas emissions, but repealing an endangerment finding based upon years of work by America's scientists and public health experts is not appropriate," the 12 Democrats wrote Tuesday to Senate colleagues.

The Democrats referred to EPA's recent finding that greenhouse gas pollution endangers public health and welfare. "The independent work of scientists and public health experts from both the Bush and Obama administrations should stand on its own," the Democrats wrote.

Murkowski Tuesday said she is still considering whether to offer an amendment to legislation expected to be considered in the full Senate Jan. 20 that increases the debt limit; an amendment to other legislation; or a resolution citing disapproval of EPA's efforts to regulate greenhouse gases.

"I really need to kind of figure out the pros and cons of a one-year timeout versus moving forward with a resolution of disapproval," Murkowski said. "They both have their advantages and disadvantages."

Murkowski might offer language echoing an amendment she tried to offer in September to the fiscal 2010 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, which Democrats blocked her from offering, that would have restricted EPA for one year from regulating carbon dioxide. But her spokesman, Robert Dillon, said there are several drafts of language that are being considered, including a one-year ban.

A potential pitfall to offering an amendment would be that Democrats would try to modify it or offer their own. Democrats may offer "tailoring" language limiting EPA regulations to facilities that emit at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. This was an amendment drafted by Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in case Murkowski was able to offer her amendment to the Interior spending bill in September.

A senior aide to Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer said Democrats are preparing an alternative in case Murkowski offers something. While they are looking at Feinstein's amendment as a starting point, a Democratic alternative has not been finalized, the aide added.

One potential problem with offering a disapproval resolution that could be expedited in the Senate is that "the process is more allowable here on the Senate side then it is on the House side" to offer such a resolution, Murkowski said.

Environmental groups have made defeating Murkowski's efforts a top priority, arguing that her efforts have been literally underwritten by energy industry lobbyists, including former senior Bush administration EPA officials.

"Rarely do we see evidence that senators are becoming stenographers," said Clean Air Watch President Frank O'Donnell, who said Murkowski is "essentially taking dictation from lobbyists for some of the biggest polluters in town."

Murkowski responded, "What you're seeing now is the environmental community is just in a tailspin over this legislation, and they're throwing out any red herring that they possibly can."

Murkowski said she has consulted with Clean Air Act experts as well as environmental groups.

"It's part of the legislative process, where you reach out and you kind of vet the language, and that's exactly what we did," Murkowski said.

David Doniger, climate policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council and a former EPA director of climate change policy in the Clinton administration, said he and representatives from other environmental groups met with Murkowski's staff last fall after she tried to offer her amendment to the Interior spending bill.

"It was kind of a post-mortem offer on the part of several environmental groups to work with her," Doniger said, noting that offer of a dialogue is still open.

These groups have supported efforts to simply offer Feinstein's tailoring language. But Murkowski aides say that is not an option.

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Interior Department tightens leasing rules

Darren Goode — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The Interior Department Wednesday announced a tightening of environmental reviews before federal lands can be leased for oil and gas development, including more public comment and tougher restrictions on using congressionally approved means of expediting the leases.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the changes, which quickly received Republican and industry fire, are necessary to limit the litigation that he said has slowed down production on leases granted by the Bush administration, reduced industry certainty and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars.

Bush administration leasing occurred "almost anywhere at whatever cost," Salazar told reporters. He said that while less than 1 percent of Bureau of Land Management leases were legally challenged in 1998, 40 percent faced litigation in 2008, costing taxpayers millions.

The changes include additional environmental analysis, including a new interim guidance to BLM field managers that place new limits on improving "categorical exclusions" used to speed up environmental reviews of leasing.

These exclusions, authorized in 2005 energy legislation, will no longer be permitted in cases involving "extraordinary circumstances," which Interior officials said include adverse impacts on protected species and on cultural or historically significant resources. Interior Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Wilma Lewis will head an "energy reform" team that will look at other possible changes.

In a media call, BLM Director Bob Abbey said "we do anticipate that there may be a slowdown of reviewing" new leases due to the changes and that some leases granted during the Bush years may be reversed. But Salazar said the changes "will stop the essential logjam that we have seen over the last several years" due to the "headlong rush to leasing" under Bush that has been the subject of "enormous" litigation.

"So it's going to be smarter access to public lands," Salazar said.

The changes were applauded by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.

But Robert Dillon, spokesman for Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the only certainty provided by the changes "is that more production will be driven overseas."

American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said Salazar was guilty of "familiar double talk" by the Obama administration.

"Under the guise of offering certainty for investors, Interior Secretary Salazar has taken steps to further delay and limit American energy resources for all Americans," Gerard said.

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EPA: Video takedown order was about ethics, not content

Darren Goode — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The Environmental Protection Agency's top lawyer says the agency is not censoring two of its California-based attorneys who posted a YouTube video criticizing the Obama administration's backing of a House-passed climate bill. But the two attorneys were asked to either take down the video or edit out references to their work with EPA because they violated government ethics standards.

"EPA has nearly 18,000 employees and all of them are free to -- and many do -- publicly express their views on issues of the day, including issues that are central to EPA's mission," according to a statement from EPA General Counsel Scott Fulton. "The only requirement is that employees adhere to the government's ethical regulations, which are in place to ensure that EPA and other agencies maintain the highest possible ethical standards at all times."

The issue is a 10-minute critique of cap-and-trade programs the administration has backed, the House has approved and the Senate is considering that was posted on YouTube by two attorneys in EPA's San Francisco office. In the video, Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel say cap-and-trade does not work and instead suggest phased-in increases in carbon prices for businesses and monthly rebates to consumers. Williams -- who was reached directly by phone Monday -- and Zabel did not comment.

In their video, Williams said they were "speaking out as parents, citizens, a married couple and attorneys." Zabel then says, "Our opinions are based on more than 20 years each working as attorneys at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the San Francisco regional office." He adds, "However, nothing in this video is intended to represent the views of EPA or the Obama administration."

The issue, according to EPA, is not the content of the video but whenever agency employees use their profession "to accent the credibility of your personal opinion," said EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy. "This is really not out of the ordinary at EPA." Andy said the agency has "no comments on their content."

Williams and Zabel have closely worked with their regional ethics office since last year on publicly stating their personal views "so everyone thought that we were on the same page," Andy said. Andy said that based on comments the two have made to the media, "They do understand this is not about the content."

An Oct. 31 op-ed posted by Williams and Zabel in the Washington Post that provided a link to the video caught the eye of regional ethics officials, one of whom sent an e-mail last Thursday instructing them to either take down the video or remove references to their EPA employment or face possible disciplinary action.

Williams and Zabel complied and took down the video Friday, though the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has since reposted it. The two attorneys are considering whether to challenge the agency's order, said Jeff Ruch, PEER's executive director. Doing so, he said, could create a precedent combining the growth of online communicating tools and whether government officials have the "ability to speak as private citizens about what they're doing on the job."

Coincidentally, EPA Friday sent the White House an "endangerment finding" citing climate change as a risk to public health and welfare, which the agency could use as justification to regulate U.S. greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, particularly if Congress fails to pass a climate bill. EPA released a draft finding in April, which was followed by 60 days set aside for public comment. "This is the next step in the regulatory process," according to an EPA statement. "Nothing has been finalized at this point, and the April 2009 proposed findings are still just that -- proposed and being reviewed through the regulatory process."

EPA this year has already proposed greenhouse gas limits for new motor vehicles and indicated it plans to move forward with limits on large power plants and other industrial facilities. The House-passed climate bill would trump EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, while a bill approved last week by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee does not. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told the Senate panel recently that the agency would still need to limit some greenhouse gases that are not covered by legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is expected to meet with relevant committee leaders Monday to talk about what might be doable this year and next on a climate and energy bill, a Senate Democratic leadership aide said.

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on a cap-and-trade bill. A hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday on climate policy options has been postponed, as the Senate is not expected to vote Tuesday due to the memorial service at Fort Hood in Texas.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and ranking member Richard Lugar, R-Ind., are meeting Tuesday with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Capitol to talk about steps heading into December's international climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Kerry and Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., might look to present a bipartisan framework for climate legislation by the end of those talks. On Monday, Graham said aides were meeting during this shortened legislative week.

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Yucca Mountain funding nears its demise

Darren Goode — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

House and Senate Democrats are well on their way to helping the Obama administration kill Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

Both chambers have approved fiscal 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bills that match the administration's $197 million request to let the Energy Department officially keep the project open on paper for a year while funding Energy Secretary Steven Chu's blue ribbon panel to develop an alternative plan for storing and managing nuclear waste.

The current 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste are held in temporary surface storage facilities at 131 sites in 39 states.

One difference between the two bills is that the House matches the administration's request of $56 million to also keep alive for one more year a Nuclear Regulatory Commission review of a Bush Energy Department application to build the long-stalled repository, primarily to avoid a legal challenge.

The Senate bill only asks for $29 million. There is no timeline for conference negotiations, although a Senate aide said conference talks should be smooth enough for a bill to get finished before the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

Since the start, the repository has met stiff resistance, especially from Nevadans, particularly Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Reid recently said President Obama reaffirmed his plan to kill the program by zeroing out funding in fiscal 2011 for the NRC review of the repository's application.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the creation of a National Commission on Nuclear Waste in its broad energy bill to perform a two-year study on the best way for the United States to move forward on a permanent nuclear waste repository.

Energy and Natural Resources Committee Republicans said that simply delays a permanent solution to the problem and unsuccessfully tried to add language to the bill giving the Energy secretary the authority to enter into cost-sharing agreements with private companies and contracts with local governments for hosting nuclear waste storage facilities.

Panel Democrats expressed concern that local governments could enter into agreements without consulting a state government.

The panel turned down an attempt by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to express support for making Yucca Mountain a permanent nuclear waste repository.

Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said he supported this idea, but the "administration has made it clear" that it will not move forward on Yucca Mountain.

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Answers sought on Minn. flight delay

Darren Goode — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0400

On the heels of a Transportation Department request, lawmakers are seeking to determine why passengers on a Continental Airlines regional flight on Friday were left on the plane while it sat on the tarmac for several hours overnight.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., sent a letter on Tuesday to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt asking for answers. "I hope you will share my assessment that the conditions experienced by these passengers were unacceptable and warrant a swift response," she said.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has also contacted FAA and the Transportation Department, according to a spokeswoman.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has asked the department's general counsel to look into whether Continental or its partner ExpressJet Airlines violated any laws.

LaHood sent a letter to Continental asking for information regarding the incident, in which a Continental regional flight from Houston operated by ExpressJet sat on the tarmac with 47 passengers at Rochester (Minn.) International Airport for hours after it was diverted from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. News reports indicate the wait on the plane was at least six hours, after a delay of a couple hours before the plane had initially left Houston.

"What does it mean that an article from over the weekend on a nightmare flight delay is yesterday's 'Most Viewed' news item in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune?" LaHood wrote on his blog Tuesday. "I think it means that reasonable people are outraged at the idea of being stuck on a small plane for seven hours."

LaHood is asking Continental to explain why the flight was diverted -- ExpressJet has blamed thunderstorms -- and which carrier's contingency plan was implemented during the delay. He is also asking whether either carrier had procedures in place at Rochester regarding deplaning of passengers; why the flight was forced to stay on the ground for that long; and how passengers were treated during the delay and once they were inside the airport terminal. ExpressJet has said the passengers stayed on board because Transportation Security Administration screeners had gone home for the night and passengers would not have been able to re-board.

LaHood said the information from Continental will be used to help write a departmental rule requiring airlines to take certain action to deal with lengthy tarmac delays, including ensuring basic passenger needs.

The incident has rallied those seeking congressional approval of a passenger bill of rights. Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, sent a Dear Colleague on Tuesday to gather support for a bill allowing passengers to deplane after every three hours on the ground and requiring airlines to provide food, water and adequate restrooms. It would also mandate that airports and airlines develop contingency plans for delayed flights, which the Transportation Department would review and approve. It would be able to fine air carriers and airports that do not submit or comply with those plans.

The Boxer-Snowe measure was included in a FAA reauthorization bill that the Senate Commerce Committee approved in July, but the senators say they will push for a stand-alone bill if the broader committee bill stalls.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello, D-Ill., on Wednesday said he has talked to FAA officials who are investigating. "It is another example of why the Senate needs to move a FAA reauthorization bill" that includes a mandatory passenger bill of rights, he said. "I think we can get a bill out in a relatively short time and get it to the president's desk in the fall."

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Republican senators put holds on two Interior deputies

Darren Goode — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The Senate Thursday overwhelmingly confirmed Tom Strickland's nomination as assistant Interior secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, but Republican holds might delay the appointment of two of his fellow deputies at the department.

The Senate, 89-2, approved Strickland, who will continue to be Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's chief of staff. He is only the second of President Obama's nominees for Interior to be confirmed.

Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, Thursday announced he will try to hold up the nomination of Hilary Tompkins to be solicitor at Interior because he wants Salazar to clarify the administration's position on an agreement reached in 2003 between Utah and Interior, where the department agreed to stop designating land as wilderness study areas. Tompkins as solicitor would have to defend that agreement, which resulted from a lawsuit Utah filed against the federal government in 1996.

"I need to better understand the legal opinions and director of who will be the department's chief legal officer and the answers provided just don't cut it," Bennett said. He sent a letter to Salazar Thursday seeking clarification. Salazar is traveling to Utah Friday to tout stimulus money going there.

Bennett said he was frustrated with answers provided by Interior nominees and the department on that and other issues regarding his state.

He also has a hold on David Hayes to be Interior deputy secretary because he wants more answers regarding why the administration canceled oil and gas leases in Utah.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski announced Thursday that she will add to Bennett's existing hold on Hayes because of Tuesday's announcement that the administration will toss out Bush administration changes to the Endangered Species Act and reinstate the requirement for federal agencies to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service before doing projects that might harm threatened plants and animals.

She said she was concerned that the administration would drop that rule without following federal due process requirements. "I'm disappointed that the administration would make such a dramatic and far-reaching change in an existing rule without complying with the long-standing federal process requiring public notice and comment by the American people and knowledgeable scientists," she said in a statement.

She said the administration's announcement -- combined with a prior finding that the polar bear is threatened by climate change -- could lead environmentalists to challenge most development in the country.

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Obama's pick for EPA deputy suddenly withdraws name

Darren Goode — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

President Obama's pick for the No. 2 spot at EPA withdrew his nomination Wednesday on the eve of his Senate confirmation hearing amid a probe into a nonprofit foundation where he was previously on the board of directors.

Jon Cannon, a former senior EPA official and currently an environmental law professor at the University of Virginia, said in a statement that while he was not personally being investigated, the scrutiny surrounding the now-defunct America's Clean Water Foundation was a "distraction" to EPA.

Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., said committee staff questioned Cannon at a recent meeting regarding a February 2007 EPA inspector general report that said the foundation mismanaged at least $25 million in federal grants it was awarded between 1998 and 2003.

But he called Cannon's withdrawal "very surprising" and that he would have had Inhofe's backing if he had not withdrawn his nomination. "We told him we don't believe this would be anything that would hold you up," Dempsey said.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a statement said she is "disappointed" and that the administration "will move quickly to identify a new candidate."

The EPA IG report said the foundation had not complied with federal grant regulations. It also violated conflict-of-interest rules by giving a $50,000 contract to the Grizzle Company, a Washington, D.C., consulting firm run by Charles Grizzle, who was vice president of the foundation's board of directors at the time.

Cannon held a variety of positions at EPA under the late President Ronald Reagan, and former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, eventually rising to become the agency's general counsel under Clinton.

He is the latest Obama nominee to withdraw amid controversy, including former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's nomination to be HHS secretary and healthcare czar and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's bid to be Commerce secretary.

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Utah senator threatens hold on Interior deputy nominee

Darren Goode — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, is threatening to hold up the nomination of the Interior Department's second-in-command to get more answers on why the Obama administration canceled oil and gas leases in his state.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of David Hayes to be deputy Interior secretary, 17-5.

Bennett afterward said he will put a hold on the nomination until he sits down with Hayes and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about those leases.

"We've been trying to get an appointment with them; I think maybe now they'll give us one," Bennett said after the vote. An Interior spokesman said Salazar and Hayes "are looking forward to talking to Sen. Bennett about his concerns."

Bennett was joined by Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, John Barrasso of Wyoming, James Risch of Idaho, and Jim Bunning of Kentucky in voting against Hayes' nomination. Sessions afterward said Hayes should eventually be confirmed. "I'd like the president to get who he wants. But if you're not going to respond to a respected senator's questions then I think that is a basis for slowing this thing down," Sessions said. Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who voted to move his nomination out of the committee, said Hayes needs to better explain the administration's decision before his nomination goes forward.

"It could be that we see his nomination held up until there is a response that is a satisfactory response," she said. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., also suggested she might vote against his nomination on the floor. "I think his nomination will go forward, but I do think that Sen. Bennett has some legitimate concerns," she said. "Democrats and Republicans alike will not allow any backward movement ... on domestic production onshore and offshore."

Hayes sent a letter to Bennett Wednesday morning trying to further clarify an initial response he gave the Utah Republican regarding coordination between the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service on the Utah lease sale. After initially telling Bennett that BLM did not coordinate with the park service regarding the sale of leases near park service properties, Hayes said he followed up with acting National Park Service Director Dan Wenk, who told him that the two agencies had discussions after the sale was announced. The result of the talks was that some proposed leases were withheld by BLM for sale. Hayes pledged in the letter to be involved in a review that Salazar has promised to conduct on those lease sales.

Bennett said he is not convinced. The letter Wednesday from Hayes "gave me no indication whatsoever that the review of the secretary will be in any way substantive," Bennett said. "I do not believe that we have been assured that there will be an honest review." Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who raised questions over Hayes' previous lobbying jobs and comments regarding former President Ronald Reagan, ended up voting for his nomination. Hayes mentioned Reagan in a 2006 article for the Progressive Policy Institute criticizing Western conservatives for backing logging, mining and drilling without restrictions. McCain said he was offended by the "derogatory remarks" and questioned whether President Obama is breaking a campaign pledge on hiring former lobbyists in his administration. Hayes has not been a lobbyist for two years. He had a previous run as Interior deputy secretary at the tail end of the Clinton administration from 1999 to 2001 before joining the lobbying world.

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Interior chief: Energy development continues on public lands

Darren Goode — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday defended the Obama administration's stance on developing energy on federal lands and waters at his first appearance before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee since becoming the head of the department.

Salazar responded to Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and other critics who have accused the administration for trying to roll back Bush administration attempts to expand domestic oil and natural gas production.

"The fact is that much of what we are still doing is continuing to develop oil and gas both onshore and offshore," Salazar said. "It is very much a part of our energy future." The department in the last seven weeks, he said, has sold seven oil and gas leases worth $33 million in federal revenue.

Salazar is traveling to New Orleans Wednesday for a lease sale covering nearly 35 million acres in a section of the Gulf of Mexico opened up in energy legislation signed into law in December 2007. The department is reviewing ways to at least partly reinstate an offshore drilling ban that expired last year and may scale back oil shale development in the West. But Salazar said the administration still opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Murkowski has offered a new bill authorizing slant drilling there provided it minimizes disturbances to wildlife and the environment.

The Interior Department and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced Tuesday the end of a long stalemate between the two agencies regarding federal oversight of offshore renewable energy projects. The two agencies have signed an initial memorandum of understanding "that will allow us to move forward with the siting of renewable energy facilities in the outer continental shelf," Salazar told the committee. Interior would handle wind projects and FERC would oversee hydropower projects, such as wave, tidal and ocean current. Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Murkowski suggested they may need to clarify this division in an energy bill they are working on this month.

Another memorandum of understanding between the two agencies regarding the permitting and licensing of the projects is forthcoming, Salazar said. He said that while the two agencies may be ready to finalize rules proposed by the Bush administration for setting up offshore alternative energy development in a couple of months, that could be delayed several more months if major changes are made to them. Salazar afterward said he is interested in talking to Bingaman and Murkowski about including language in the bill that would at a minimum examine whether solar power plants can be located at Defense Department sites in Southern California, and perhaps elsewhere, without compromising military missions.

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Officials look to contain FAA information security breach

Darren Goode — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The Federal Aviation Administration is working to stem concerns regarding the agency's disclosure on Monday that a hacker was able to access Social Security numbers and other personal information of 45,000 agency employees and retirees, a senior agency official told lawmakers on Wednesday.

FAA's Acting Assistant Administrator Nancy LoBue told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee she is very concerned about potential identity fraud and that the agency is working on short- and long-term plans to address it.

This includes free credit monitoring, which the Veterans Affairs Department offered employees for one year after a 2006 data breach, LoBue said. "We are committed to doing something, yes," she said in a dialogue with Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., whose district houses 1,500 at-risk employees and retirees at FAA's Tech Center and Atlantic City International Airport's control tower. LoBue agreed to provide the panel with more details within a week.

Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel told the panel his top concerns about security risks at FAA are both unique to the agency and indicative of broader problems facing federal agencies.

These include hackers tapping into FAA's highly connected system and its increased outsourcing, he said. Scovel's office is working on two audits requested by the committee, including one examining privacy protection of medical records.

Wednesday's hearing focused on a four-year, $70 billion FAA reauthorization bill the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Democratic leaders offered this week to modernize air-traffic control. If it was an indicator, labor issues, as in discussions during the last Congress, will be a major sticking point between the two parties.

This includes requiring FAA and air-traffic controllers to retroactively resolve long-fought wage differences before independent, binding arbitration.

Transportation and Infrastructure ranking member John Mica, R-Fla., called this "one of the big elephants in the room." Republicans see the recession as a reason to oppose making any wage agreement between FAA and the controllers retroactive. Democrats say a retroactive wage agreement is necessary to improve agency morale and help the modernization effort.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has said he will hire an FAA administrator that will quickly resolve the issue. Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello, D-Ill., said at the hearing that LaHood has offered someone the job, but he did not identify the candidate.

While the wage talks may be dealt with by the administration, the Democrats' bill also makes it easier for unions to organize workers at FedEx. "This issue has the potential to stop this bill," said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.

The House in the 110th Congress approved a four-year FAA reauthorization bill that included both those labor provisions, while earning a veto threat from the Bush administration. But the Obama administration is expected to be far more labor-friendly.

Wednesday's meeting -- which included 18 witnesses -- is the sole hearing in the committee before a markup on the reauthorization bill. Aviation Subcommittee ranking member Thomas Petri, R-Wis., cautioned about moving too fast before the administration offers a proposal or otherwise weighs in. He warned this "may actually prolong the process toward final passage." A Transportation and Infrastructure Democratic spokesman said a markup has not been scheduled but will not occur this month.

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Democrats seek quick replacement of top Army Corps officials

Darren Goode — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Eleven Senate Democrats have called on President Obama to quickly replace the chief of the Army Corps of Engineers in the latest move in an increasingly nasty spat centered on accusations that Corps leaders have cozy business relations that undermine federal wetlands protection.

The Democrats -- including Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. -- sent a letter Wednesday to Obama asking for the speedy ousting of Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Paul Woodley Jr.

In the letter, which does not refer to Woodley by name, the senators cite a report from Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform and Transportation and Infrastructure panels in alleging that "the current Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works 'placed the interests of corporate lobbyists over the scientific determinations of career staff ...' in several decisions regarding Clean Water Act protections."

This includes Woodley's role in producing a dual Environmental Protection Agency-Army Corps document in December intended to clarify an earlier 2007 memo that itself was meant to clear up a muddled Supreme Court ruling in 2006 regarding federal wetlands protection.

Democrats and environmental groups have charged the revised guidance provides less protection and is more confusing than the memo it replaced.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Woodley called the House Democrats' report "false, malicious, fraudulent and a tissue of lies." The report "is the product of a review of some 40- or 50,000 pages out of which a small number are taken out of context, misinterpreted, misapplied in order to create a fictional story," he said. "No lobbyist ever asked me to do anything in this case."

Woodley sided with Democrats in hoping to be replaced soon.

"I need to be getting on with the rest of my career," he said. But "I do not believe it is necessary in that context for these people to attack me personally."

He said while he is "personally offended," he does not believe the accusations by the Democrats will harm the rest of his career. "I think people will consider the source and will have no particular impact on me," he said.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., issued a statement praising the senators for joining the effort to "expeditiously" replace Woodley and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Dunlop.

"Based on the actions of these two individuals during their service with the Corps, it would be far better to allow a career civil servant to serve as an interim, acting-assistant secretary, rather than allow either Secretary Woodley or Deputy Assistant Secretary Dunlop to remain in control of the construction and regulatory authorities of the agency," Oberstar said.

Oberstar and the senators also say Woodley has been lax in implementing reforms included in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act.

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Senate Commerce leaders eye FAA boost

Darren Goode — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Senate Commerce Committee leaders might seek to add funding to the economic stimulus package to begin modernizing the nation's air traffic control system, as uncertainty continues over the timing and chances of a multiyear Federal Aviation Administration modernization plan.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas -- who led the Aviation Subcommittee in the last Congress -- "are in agreement that it would be an appropriate place to put in the stimulus bill some beginning help" for FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System, Hutchison said.

The agency's program is designed to transform the ground-based air traffic control system to a satellite-based system.

While details -- including the amount of money -- are being worked out, Rockefeller said, "I don't think you have to put in a tremendous amount."

In justifying its inclusion in the stimulus, Rockefeller said, "It is mass producing in the way of work. It's desperately needed."

The funding comes as lawmakers this year will renew their attempt to approve a multiyear FAA modernization bill that fell victim to a Senate filibuster last year. Lawmakers agreed to extend aviation contract authority and taxes after that bill collapsed and need to do so again before the extension expires at the end of the March.

While leading Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee want to do another short-term extension to keep pressure on lawmakers to finish a bill, the Senate might look to extend funding and taxes until at least the end of the fiscal year. "I think that depends a bit on what gets into the stimulus package," Rockefeller said. Hutchison wants a two-year extension. "The FAA administrator should be able to come in and get his or her feet on the ground and be able to know what the priorities are and state of the agency is," Hutchison said.

While the Senate bill last year was thwarted over the inclusion of extraneous highway funding and a political spat over limiting amendments, this year's FAA modernization debate will include some of the same aviation policy pitfalls. This includes the push by House Democrats to require FAA and the air traffic controllers union to go to retroactive, independent binding arbitration to settle a long-fought dispute over wages. While Hutchison said this would be a nonstarter with her and Rockefeller, she noted that the Obama FAA can reopen the talks with an independent arbitrator without legislation.

While Obama and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood have not settled on an FAA administrator, it is widely expected that this administration will be friendlier to labor interests than its predecessor.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Democratic leaders will introduce a bill very similar to the four-year $66 billion bill from the last Congress and plan to hold an initial hearing on FAA modernization Feb. 11.

Last year's Senate debate was marked by contrasting views on how to narrow the difference between what airlines and general aviation contribute to the modernization effort. Rockefeller initially pushed for a $25 per flight surcharge for private planes but dropped the idea before reaching a deal with Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus that increased the general aviation fuel tax by 65 percent.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is expected to take over the gavel of the Aviation Subcommittee and it is unclear whether his close ties to general aviation in his sparsely populated state will make the funding debate easier or tougher this time.

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