Major Coal Issues in the 109th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
June 10, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RL32790 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Marc Humphries, Resources, Science, and Industry Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
Major legislative issues related to coal in the 109th Congress include coal and energy security,
clean
air and environmental concerns, funding strategies for technology R&D, loan guarantees for
coal
gasification projects, and the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program.
The Administration anticipates a long-term reliance on coal because of its relatively low-cost
abundance. Coal supplies 22% of U.S. energy demand but over 50% of the energy used by the
electric power sector. The Energy Information Administration forecasts electricity consumption to
grow by 1.9% per year through 2025. The increase will largely be met by new coal-fired or natural
gas-fired power plants.
By mandating significant reductions in three pollutants emitted by coal-fired electric generating
units, proposed Clear Skies legislation ( S. 131 ) could have significant impact on coal
production and distribution, if enacted. When Clear Skies was introduced in the 108th Congress, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted an analysis of its effects on the coal industry.
While the analysis indicated growth in coal production for electric utility production (from 905
million tons in 2000 to 998 million tons in 2020), coal generation's share of the 2020
generation mix
was projected to decline from 46% to 44%. Clear Skies legislation, however, faces an uncertain
future. In March 2005, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee killed S. 131
on a 9-9 vote.
In FY2002, President Bush initiated the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI) focusing on
advanced coal combustion technology for removal of SOx, NOx, mercury, and fine particulate
matter and carbon sequestration. The CCPI is a 10-year, $2 billion government-industry cost sharing
program. The FY2006 funding request for Fossil Energy R&D is heavily weighted towards
clean
coal technology, potentially at the expense of other fossil technologies -- such as natural gas or
petroleum technology R&D.
Legislation in the 109th Congress for an omnibus energy bill ( H.R. 6 ) was approved
by the House on April 21, 2005. H.R. 6 includes provisions for coal nearly identical to the
H.R. 6 conference report filed in the 108th Congress. Within the CCPI section there
would be loan guarantees for specific integrated gasification combined cycle projects. The Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources approved its version of the bill ( S. 10 ) on
May 26, 2005.
Authorization for collection of AML fees was scheduled to expire at the end of FY2004 and was
extended nine months to the end of June 2005 by the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2005
( P.L. 108-447 ). Subsequently, H.R. 1268 ( P.L. 109-13 ) a supplemental appropriations
bill for FY2005, extended AML authorization to the end of FY2005. In its FY2006 budget
submission for the Office of Surface Mining, the Administration once again proposed the changes
in the AML program included with the FY2005 budget, this time seeking a $58 million increase in
the appropriation for the fund. This report will be updated.
