Drilling Under Great Lakes Banned by Congress

Alan Fram / AP 1nov01

WASHINGTON -- Congress voted Thursday to ban new oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes for the next two years, handing a victory to environmentalists over energy industry interests.

President Bush has tried to boost domestic energy production following this year's energy shortages and the always uncertain political situation in the oil-rich Middle East. He has focused more effort on his desire to increase drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, and is expected to sign the underlying spending bill anyway.

The language was included in a $24.6 billion compromise measure financing federal energy and water programs in 2002 that the House approved by 399-29. Senate passage followed by 96-2, sending the bill to Bush.

The votes came amid a flurry of congressional action on other spending bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Lawmakers approved a compromise measure providing almost $3 billion to finance Congress' own operations this year, $242 million more than last year. The House roll call was 374-52, while the Senate used a voice vote.

The Senate, by 83-15, gave final congressional approval to a $32.8 billion measure financing the Treasury Department and several smaller agencies. The compromise bill, approved Wednesday by the House, increases spending for the Internal Revenue Service and Customs Service but drops earlier House-passed language that would have eased travel restrictions to Cuba.

The Treasury measure also opens the door for lawmakers to give themselves a $4,900 pay raise next year to $150,000. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., has said he will try blocking the salary increase later, but his move is considered a long shot.

The Senate continued debating legislation that would provide $123.1 billion for labor, education and health programs, nearly $14 billion more than last year.

With Thursday's votes, Congress has completed five of the 13 annual spending bills for fiscal 2002.

The Great Lakes provision would prevent federal agencies from issuing permits for new drilling there through Sept. 30, 2003, while the government produces a study on the environmental affects such drilling might have.

Until now, the states bordering the Great Lakes have overseen mineral drilling there.

None of them -- New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota -- allow drilling from rigs on the water. Michigan is the only state that allows shoreline drilling that is angled to reach deposits under the lake.

The overall energy and water bill would provide $573 million more than last year and $2 billion above Bush's request. It would cut spending aimed at preventing Russian nuclear weapons and expertise from falling into the hands of rogue nations or terrorists, but boost funds for many water projects and renewable energy programs.

The bill is also packed with billions of dollars worth of water projects and energy research spending for every state in the union, items that perennially make the measure a favorite for lawmakers. Included is $500,000 for the Hall of Paleontology at Chicago's Field Museum, and $90 million for cleaning up the site of a former nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in West Valley, N.Y.

The Senate's labor, health and education bill would provide big increases in aid to local school districts and other education programs, and for biomedical research by the National Institutes of Health.

Work on that bill cleared one logjam after senators agreed to drop a pair of contentious provisions on stem cell research and cloning. The White House had threatened a veto if the bill included language -- removed Thursday -- that would have eased Bush's policy against using embryos for stem cell research.

But it hit another snag over a proposal by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and others to allow police officers, fire fighters and emergency workers in all states to use collective bargaining but not strike. Those workers in 18 states do not have collective bargaining rights, Daschle said.

Congress poised to pass ban on oil drilling under Great Lakes

AP 31oct01

WASHINGTON -- New oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes would be banned for the next two years under an agreement poised to win approval in Congress.

The measure is aimed at stopping the state of Michigan from issuing more permits for directional drilling under the Great Lakes from sites along the shoreline.

Michigan Gov. John Engler has said the drilling can be done safely, and he strongly objected to the agreement. His spokeswoman said his administration will examine the legislation to see if they can stop it from taking effect.

"This amendment sets a terrible precedent," Engler said in a statement. "Today, Washington wants to dictate how Michigan protects the waters of the Great Lakes. Tomorrow, Washington could well dictate who gets the water."

Republican and Democratic lawmakers from Michigan and surrounding states held a news conference Wednesday to congratulate themselves on the deal. They say an accident or leak from a well could contaminate their fresh water supply.

"The amount of oil and gas that would come out of Lake Michigan in my district would be so minimal, it is not worth the risk," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.

Engler will leave office at the end of next year because of term limits. Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who is running to replace him, and all the Democratic candidates have spoken out against new drilling permits.

"There's a very good likelihood that this two-year ban will get us to a permanent ban," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who wrote the provision into the bill.

The Great Lakes states - New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota - do not allow drilling from rigs on the water. Michigan is the only state that allows directional drilling to reach deposits under the lake from the shore.

The state stopped issuing new drilling leases in 1997 as critics warned of potential damage to the lakes and shoreline residents protested, but the Michigan Natural Resources Commission voted in September to let the state resume issuing leases.

The drilling ban is part of a spending bill for energy and water projects. A House-Senate committee included the Great Lakes drilling ban in the bill, which is scheduled for a vote in both chambers this week. It is expected to win easy approval, and President Bush is expected to sign it into law.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., expects to be one of only a few lawmakers to vote against the provision. He says the states, not the federal government, should control the Great Lakes.

"This is a very, very dangerous precedent in terms of our ownership of the Great Lakes," he said. "You are taking away my children's ownership of the Great Lakes."