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Rehberg brings Keystone discussion back to payroll tax cut

Montana's sole U. S. representative is again pushing for approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, trying again to attach it to an issue President Barack Obama is pushing, extending a payroll tax cut.

Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., said Thursday he sent a letter to the chairs of a conference committee — Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich. — trying to resolve issues including extending a payroll tax cut asking the committee to add language to congressionally approve the permit for the pipeline.

"This isn't a time to sit on the fence and hope this pipeline will build itself, " Rehberg said in a press release Thursday. "We need this energy infrastructure and the jobs it will create today. The President said we couldn't wait, well, I think he's right. What does it tell you when the President and his Senate allies think putting thousands of people to work will hurt their chances for re-election? "

Rehberg sponsored a House version of a requirement that Obama make a decision on approving a permit for the pipeline, proposed by TransCanada Corp. to transport oil from the tar sands in northeastern Alberta through Montana en route to Texas, within 60 days.

The Keystone decision requirement was attached to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and other issues including unemployment benefits extension and preventing cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.

Obama denied the permit last month, saying the 60-day deadline did not give enough time to analyze ecological impacts of the pipeline. A major concern was the pipeline's route through Nebraska, where it was proposed to run over an aquifer that provides water in eight states.

TransCanada representatives have said it will submit a new request for a permit once an alternative route is selected.

Rehberg said in his letter to Baucus and Camp that the president's decision was purely politically motivated.

Baucus said he supports the pipeline and finding ways to have it approved, but action needs to be taken with care.

"There's always more than one way to skin a cat, and I'm looking at every option and talking to all my colleagues to find a way to get something done on Keystone, " he said this morning. "Whatever path we choose, we need to make sure it has the legs to pass Congress and can stand up to legal challenges by opponents so we don't end up delaying the project even further by getting it tied up in the courts."

A representative of Baucus said the senator also wants to be very careful about putting the payroll tax cut extension at risk.

Rehberg has taken some other actions to try to get action on the pipeline permit. This week he joined as a cosponsor on a bill to approve the permit through congressional action, and he previously cosponsored a bill that would move the permitting process from the Department of State to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Assistant Secretary of State Kerri-Ann Jones told members of Congress last week that the bill taking authority away from the Department of State raised serious legal issues. Those include narrow time constraints and automatic mandates that would prevent an informed decision, she said.

Jeffrey Wright, director of FERC's Office of Energy Projects, said that agency has no authority or experience in determining where oil pipelines are located. FERC regulates interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas and oil, and reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines.

Wright said the FERC would not have enough time under the language of the bill to adequately assess the Keystone XL project and does not provide clear direction for how the agency would modify the yet-to-be-determined route through Nebraska.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.

 

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