Thornberry Backs House Legislation to Boost U.S.
Refineries
(Washington
D.C.) With consumers struggling
with higher gasoline prices, the U.S. House today approved legislation aimed
at increasing America’s
fuel supply. Promoting the construction of new refineries is a primary
goal of H.R. 3893, the “Gasoline for America’s Security (GAS) Act of
2005.”
Congressman Mac Thornberry (TX-13), a supporter of the
bill, said, “We are not producing enough oil, but one way we have really hurt
ourselves is by making it hard to build the refineries necessary to produce
gasoline and other fuels.”
The number of refineries in the United States has dwindled from
324 in 1981 to 148 today. There has not been a new refinery built in our
country since 1976. The reliability of America’s gasoline supply is
further jeopardized by the fact that 47 percent of the nation’s refining
capacity is located in the Gulf region recently ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita. Damage from the two hurricanes has left almost a quarter of
the nation’s refining operations either shut down or in the process of
restarting.
The GAS Act responds to the need for more refining
capacity through measures including:
- Reforming
refinery siting procedures through such steps
as establishing the Department of Energy as the lead agency for siting refineries. Currently, there is a lack
of coordination in the requirements and regulations faced by refineries
at the federal, state, and local levels.
- Providing
new refiners regulatory risk insurance to compensate them for delays
resulting from regulatory action or litigation.
- Requiring
the President to designate sites on federal lands that are appropriate
for siting a refinery. At least three of
the sites must be closed military installations.
- Directing
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use its available legal
flexibility to allow refineries to restore, maintain, and improve their
facilities without unnecessary delay and expense.
- Authorizing
the President to temporarily waive fuel or fuel additive requirements
when supplies are hampered by a natural disaster.
In addition to its language related to refining capacity, the
GAS Act takes a number of other steps to address high gasoline prices, such
as:
- Overhauling
the siting requirements for pipelines and
pipeline expansions to get new crude oil and refined product to
consumers.
- Directing
the EPA administration to reduce from 17 to 6 the number of gasoline and
diesel fuels on the Federal Fuels List. The overabundance of fuel
types has helped to create artificial supply limits when excess fuel
used in one part of the nation is not allowed for use in other areas during
shortages.
- Encouraging
conservation by making grants available to states and local governments
for carpooling or vanpooling projects.
- Imposing
the first ever federal ban on gasoline price gouging. The federal
ban will not affect anti-gouging laws already in place in many states.
H.R. 3893, which now heads to the Senate for its
consideration, is the second major piece of energy legislation approved by
the House this year. In July, the House passed H.R. 6, the “Energy Policy Act
of 2005,” a wide-ranging bill aimed at making our nation less dependent on
foreign energy sources. H.R. 6 was ultimately approved by the Senate and
signed into law by the President.
“For decades our government has neglected energy policy,
but this year we are finally making some progress toward getting on the right
track,” said Thornberry. “I am hopeful that the Senate will send the GAS Act
to the President soon.”
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