May 18, 1977
Page 15313
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I would like to briefly discuss with the chairman the role which State and local governments should play in the development and implementation of our national energy policies. I am personally concerned that the importance which the committee attached to this issue might not be clearly conveyed in the report on S. 826,or in the legislation itself.
Mr. RIBICOFF. I agree with Senator MUSKIE that this is a matter to which the committee as a whole attached a great deal of importance. During our hearings, we heard from many witnesses on this point and they were unanimous in their belief that the provisions of S. 826 as it was proposed by the administration required improvement insofar as intergovernmental policies were concerned.
Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I would like to express my agreement with what my colleagues have just said. As a matter of fact, I would like to point out that at one point, the committee included in the bill a requirement that one of the assistant secretaries be the Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations.
Mr. MUSKIE. That is right, and it is my recollection that there was unanimous agreement among the Members on this point. The committee did not report the bill with this provision only because we thought that the flexibility of the Secretary to assign responsibilities to assistant secretaries in other areas should be preserved.
Mr. ROTH. I share my colleague's view of that situation. We made the decision to withdraw the specific designation of an assistant secretary for intergovernmental relations only for the sake of preserving the secretary's flexibility in other areas. Was that your impression as well, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. RIBICOFF. It was. I think that the committee members wanted to emphasize this area as much as they could. Their concern is reflected in the number and scope of other amendments that were adopted dealing with the development of intergovernmental policies.
Mr. MUSKIE. That is so, Mr. Chairman and I would like to enumerate the amendments that were offered by the Senator from Delaware in this area and adopted by the committee. First, his amendments included a requirement that an assistant secretary be designated as responsible for intergovernmental relations, although for the reasons just mentioned we did not require that this be his or her exclusive function. In addition, the committee unanimously approved a statement of policy in section 102 and adopted a new title X, permitting the formation of regional energy advisory boards. In fact, all of Senator ROTH's amendments in this area were adopted by the committee. Is not that correct?
Mr. ROTH. That is correct. As a matter of fact, there was another amendment adopted which I consider very important from the point of view of State and local governments. That was my amendment to establish procedural safeguards, as contained in title V of the bill. I think those procedures will be as helpful to the Governors and county officials and other such representatives as anything else in the bill.
Mr. MUSKIE. I agree that those procedures will be of great assistance. And, I think having an assistant secretary for intergovernmental relations will also be very helpful to the States. We have only to look at the history of intergovernmental relations efforts within the existing Federal bureaucracy to see the danger in an inappropriate combination of intergovernmental and other departmental tasks. In the past, Federal level intergovernmental relations efforts have too often been characterized by a marked tendency to disregard the States as operating units in the system. We have failed to develop effective mechanisms to allow State participation in the policy development process.
Without State and local government participation, the energy job — no matter how well planned — simply will not get done.
One of the quickest and most effective ways to implement a successful national energy policy is to work with the States, to draw on their knowledge of local resources and needs, and to make use of State governmental structures already in place.
It is essential that the many State efforts to deal with our energy problems be integrated with the emerging Federal energy policy into a single national energy policy. To accomplish this requires open channels of communication between the State capitals and Washington.
Mr. RIBICOFF. I agree that we need to maintain good channels of communication between Washington and the States. Along those lines, does the Senator from Delaware have any specific functions in mind for the Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations?
Mr. ROTH. Yes, I did Mr. Chairman. Some have been suggested and they would include the following:
(a) Obtaining State and local inputs into agency program development.
(b) Formalizing A85 review procedures.
(c) Promoting integrated and effective R&D utilization, technical assistance, and training activities.
(d) Integrating the planning, management and assessment of State and local capacity building programs within the agency.
(e) Assuring the effective use of Title III of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act for joint Federal, State and local management and technical training.
(f) Providing a contact point for State and local officials.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, last April I joined eight other Senators in sponsoring an amendment to the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish a special post of Assistant Secretary for Competition and Consumer Affairs. As I explained in my introductory statement, Congress has often expressed its priority objective to "restore and foster competition in the energy industries"; yet these statements have not been adequately translated into action on the part of either the energy agencies or the antitrust enforcement agencies. That is why we need a special office in the new agency, dedicated to promoting competition and to supporting the interests of consumers in matters under the new department's jurisdiction.
I was pleased to see that the Governmental Affairs Committee agreed that competitive and consumer issues should be of high visibility and priority with the new department. For example, the agency's declaration of policy includes the purposes "to foster and assure competition among parties engaged in the supply of energy and fuels" and "to protect the interests of consumers in adequate and reliable supply of energy at reasonable cost."
I further note that, while the legislation does not name the specific functions of any Assistant Secretary, it does contain the following enumerated function which shall be assigned to an Assistant Secretary by the Secretary:
Competition and consumer affairs responsibilities for the promotion of competition in the energy industry and for the protection of the consuming public in the energy regulatory and policy making processes, including but not limited to assisting the Secretary in the formulation and review of policies, rules, regulations, leases and enforcement actions, acquiring, analyzing and disseminating information relating to competition and consumer affairs.
I note with pleasure, Mr. President, that these functions generally track the responsibilities which my amendment No. 186 would have established for the Assistant Secretary designated by that amendment.
Last week, the testimony of Attorney General Bell before the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee emphasized the need for these tasks to be undertaken in the new department itself. Although the Attorney General is responsible for enforcing and carrying out the antitrust laws and policies within the executive, when I asked the Attorney General about his input into the energy policy area, he said:
Like the energy policy, I had no input in that except to be asked about the antitrust aspects toward the end.
So it was clear that competitive considerations in the formulation of the President's energy policy played a back seat, after-the-fact role. That is just what we want to avoid. In fact, when I mentioned my proposal for an assistant secretary for competition in the new department, to insure that competitive implications were considered up front in the fashioning of energy policy, Attorney General Bell responded: "It wouldn't be a bad idea."
Further, Mr. President, our Antitrust Subcommittee hearings revealed that the Antitrust Division has been placing no priority on energy matters, has no organized or coordinated approach to insuring competition in the energy industries, and is not coordinated with what the FTC is doing in that area. So the need became even clearer to me and the members of the subcommittee that not only should the Antitrust Division reorder its priorities and reorganize itself, but that in any event a specific office in the new department — in the middle of the decision making process and with the information of the agency available for its analysis and use — was an imperative.
In this regard, I was pleased to see that section 608 of the bill contains direct requirements and authority for the new department relating to the collection and analysis of energy company data. Particularly, that section requires the Administrator of Energy Information to collect information adequate to permit "an analysis of the competitive structure of sectors and functional groupings within the energy industry." While Congress can collect much of this information — and the Antitrust Subcommittee has done so over the past decade — it would be extremely important for our Nation to have the data collected and analyzed as well by the new department. Obviously the Assistant Secretary to whom is assigned the competition policy responsibilities will have to play a major role in both the development of the reporting requirements and in analysis of the data obtained under the authority and mandate of this bill.
In short, Mr. President, I wholeheartedly endorse the attention given by this legislation — reflecting the priorities of the bill's manager and the Carter administration — on promotion of competition and on compilation and analysis of energy information.
Mr. STONE. Mr. President, in connection with the Senate's consideration of S. 826, the Department of Energy Organization Act, I want to express my appreciation for the careful and thorough consideration given this important legislation by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. As other Senators know the establishment of a Cabinet-level Department of Energy is a first and necessary step toward the development of an effective national energy policy. I commend President Carter for his initiative in proposing the legislation we are considering.
I am particularly pleased that the Governmental Affairs Committee has amended section 809(e) of S. 826. As originally proposed, this section would have given the Secretary of Energy veto with respect to loans for construction of generation and transmission facilities by the Rural Electrification Administration. As I outlined in a letter of March 14, 1977, to Chairman RIBICOFF, I had several concerns about this section. The committee has wisely corrected S. 826 in this respect. In the bill as reported to the Senate, the Secretary of Energy is given authority to publish general criteria with respect to the granting of generation and transmission loans by the Rural Electrification Administration. The REA Administrator should follow these criteria if they are consistent with the Rural Electrification Act.
The committee's modification will provide for a comprehensive development of national energy goals while minimizing bureaucracy and delay. It means that the REA loans and loan guarantees for construction for generating and transmission facilities will continue to be available under the terms of the Rural Electrification Act.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter to which I refer above be printed at this point in the RECORD:
There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
U.S. SENATE,
Washington, D.C.,
March 14, 1977.
Hon. ABRAHAM RIBICOFF,
Chairman, Government Affairs Committee,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR Mr. CHAIRMAN: I am writing to express my concern about Section 712(h) of 5. 826, the Department of Energy Organization Act, which is now being considered by the Committee on Government Affairs.
As you know, Section 712(h) requires all loans made by the Rural Electrification Administration for construction of generation and transmission facilities to be approved by the Secretary of Energy. Presently, this authority rests solely with the Rural Electrification Administration. While I strongly endorse President Carter's effort to reorganize the federal government's energy related activities, I am concerned that this particular provision of S. 826 may be a source of additional delay and unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. I believe that Section 712(h) would necessarily result in the duplication of the loan justification process.
Some persons knowledgeable about the REA loan justification process have suggested that the goal of coordination of REA's loan program with the nation's overall energy policy might be better served if the Rural Electrification Administration were required to establish meaningful criteria, to be approved by the Secretary of Energy, on which the loan program would operate.
This approach would assure that REA's loan program for the construction of generation and transmission facilities is consistent with the nation's energy policy without additional and unnecessary bureaucratic delay.
I understand that the Committee will receive testimony on this matter on March 24, 1977. I shall appreciate the Committee's consideration of my letter at that time.
Warm personal regards.
Cordially,.
RICHARD (DICK) STONE.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, S. 826, the legislation we are considering today to establish a new Department of Energy, is an important step in the development of a comprehensive energy policy for the Nation. It pulls together the Federal Government's many energy related activities into one cabinet level department and consolidates control over these activities in the Secretary.
For several years now, the Federal Government has responded to each new energy problem by establishing a new organization or new program within existing organizations. The 1973 OPEC embargo brought us first the Federal Energy Office, then the Federal Energy Administration.
Emerging interest in new energy sources and problems in regulating older technologies resulted in the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
This piecemeal approach reflected our lack of understanding the problem and even a greater lack of agreement of what to do about it. But; as we have gained understanding about the problem in the last few years, so have we come to more agreement about the solutions. And it is in this light that this legislation is most important.
The Governmental Affairs Committee labored long hours over this bill in an effort to achieve an organizational format through which our energy policies could best be expressed and brought to fruition. Very special attention was given to the way in which energy prices will be set by the new Department. And agreement was reached on a mechanism that will provide maximum flexibility to the Secretary of Energy while at the same time insuring that price setting is conducted in an open, orderly manner with all sides being heard before a decision is reached.
This legislation, by itself will not solve our energy problems. But, it will establish a framework in which solutions can develop and be implemented.