As the Senate continues its work on the Keystone XL pipeline bill, the House decided to get into the pipeline action today by passing the so-called Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act.
The bill would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve applications for natural gas pipelines within 12 months. It would also require other related agencies to approve related permits within 90 days, with the approval becoming automatic if the deadline is missed.
Obama has already said he would veto it. Here is his statement from November when the House last voted on the bill:
"The bill's requirements could force agencies to make decisions based on incomplete information or information that may not be available within the stringent deadlines, and to deny applications that otherwise would have been approved, but for lack of sufficient review time," the administration said this week. "For these reasons, the bill may actually delay projects or lead to more project denials, undermining the intent of the legislation."
During the floor debate, Frank Pallone (NJ-06), the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee,
spoke of the risks of the bill:
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, recalled a natural gas pipeline explosion in his home state. No one was killed or seriously injured, he said, but the explosion damaged an entire apartment complex.
"It scares me, in all honesty, to think that we would want to change the process whereby FERC has the opportunity to look at the safety of these pipelines when they're proposed for permitting and somehow short-circuit that process," Pallone said.
The bill passed
253 to 169.
14 Democrats joined Republicans to support it:
Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Bob Brady (PA-01)
Brendan Boyle (PA-13)
Cheri Bustos (IL-17)
Jim Costa (CA-16)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Gwen Graham (FL-02)
Patrick Murphy (FL-18)
Donald Norcross (NJ-01)
Scott Peters (CA-52)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)
Last November, 26 Democrats had joined with the GOP to pass the bill. Most of the change from then to now occurred via retirements or defeats at the polls. Ashford, Graham, and Boyle are all new. Ashford and Graham replaced Republicans who had also supported this bill. Boyle replaced a Democrat (Allyson Schwartz) who had opposed it.
Five Democrats who voted for it in November now opposed it:
Sanford Bishop (GA-02)
Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01)
Sean Maloney (NY-18)
Cedric Richmond (LA-02)
Terri Sewell (AL-07)
One Democrat who voted for it last November was not in attendance to vote: Ed Perlmutter (CO-07).