Additional material submitted for the record by of-Continued Comments on certain aspects of the Department of Energy's advisory Correspondence between the General Accounting Office and the De- Review of administrative law judge activities and the hearing process Justice Department, attachments to Mr. Egan's prepared statement: Exhibit B-Department of Energy defensive litigation, petroleum pric- Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President: Page 299 581 274 580 820 490 493 263 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AUTHORIZATIONS (FISCAL YEARS 1979 AND 1980) AND ENERGY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1979 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND POWER, COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 11 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 2123, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John D. Dingell, chairman, presiding. Mr. DINGELL. The subcommittee will come to order. Today the subcommittee begins the first of 7 days of hearings concerning the Department of Energy's budget for fiscal years 1979 and 1980. Today will be devoted to an overview of the budget requests for fiscal year 1980 and an update of the world oil supply situation. Tomorrow we will review the status of the Energy Department's conservation and gasoline rationing contingency planning and related budget matters and the Department's international activities concerning oil supply under the International Energy Agreement. On Thursday, February 15, we will be examining the Department's personnel situation and what the subcommittee believes is its excessive use of contractors and consultants. The General Accounting Office and the Office of Management and Budget will also testify on Thursday. The hearings next week and on February 26 will cover the programs and activities of the Economic Regulatory Administration, the Energy Information Administration, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. They will also delve into such activities as nuclear, solar, conservation, State grants, advisory committees, and the strategic petroleum reserve program. In addition to the fiscal year 1980 authorization, which has not yet been submitted to Congress, we are also considering H.R. 1004, which authorizes funds for the Department for fiscal year 1979. That bill also contains a number of substantive provisions, such as the establishment within the Department of an Office of Competition and Consumer Affairs and an Office of Administration and a program for away-from-reactor housekeeping amendments to the Department of Energy Organization Act. These provisions are generally identical to provisions reported by our full committee in H.R. 11392 in the 95th Congress. However, that bill did not reach the floor because of complications related to the National Energy Act. (1) Foreign Commerce. Subcommittee on Energy and Power. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AUTHORIZATIONS (FISCAL HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND POWER OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE NINETY-SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 1004 TO AUTHORIZE APPROPRIATIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FEBRUARY 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 26, 28, AND MARCH 2 AND 6, 1979 Serial No. 96-36 Printed for the use of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce 49-611 O U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1979 The subcommittee has a considerable workload which may be further burdened if the administration submits conservation contingency and gasoline rationing plans later this month as planned. It is my hope that we can move expeditiously on these authorizations bills. If possible, I would like to begin markup during the first week in March. Thus, we seek the cooperation of the Department in submitting this week its proposal for fiscal year 1980 and to be prepared to testify at the appropriate times. The Energy Department's budget authority for fiscal year 1980 is $8.4 billion. However, more than $5.2 billion of this sum is for defense and nuclear activities. The Department's defense budget increased over fiscal year 1979 by 10.2 percent, while funds for nonnuclear commercialization activities, including solar applications, decreased by 6.6 percent. The Department's conservation budget is down by 23.5 percent and the Chair is distressed by these budget cuts, particularly when I reflect on testimony before our subcommittee of only a few weeks ago that showed that the only real accomplishment in the past year in the area of solar commercialization and conservation is a partial reorganization of these functions at the Department. Little has been done to identify and eliminate institutional barriers to solar commercialization. The Chair is also concerned that a review of the Department's budget shows a significant increase within the Department and at FERC in funds for contracts and consultants. Personnel ceilings established by the OMB, even with the added functions of the National Energy Act, are less than those established for fiscal year 1979. Moreover, the budget again includes a 400-position cutback predicated on the assumption of decontrol of motor gasoline, a prospect that even the administration now believes is less and less realistic. In addition, only $8.3 million is requested for the strategic petroleum reserve program, while the Department is seeking to reprogram for construction activities over $700 million which has been appropriated for the purchase of oil to fill the reserve. I am not satisfied, based on our hearings of last December, that this reprograming is sound, that oil funds should be used for construction purposes, or that the Department has made significant improvements in the control of this program to warrant such reprograming. In any event, the subcommittee will be examining this program and the reprograming request on February 26, 1979. Finally, the Chair is not satisfied that the FERC budget includes sufficient funds and personnel for a vigorous investigation and enforcement program. I am convinced that such enforcement is essential if the provisions of the NEA are to be implemented effectively and fairly for all. The world oil supply situation is becoming more serious by the day, and in order for the Congress to make difficult decisions on such matters as gasoline rationing and mandatory conservation measures, we need accurate information. The subcommittee found that forecasts of unemployment during the coal strike last year were unreliable, and this year we are finding that up-to-date information on the movement of world oil supplies is unavailable. As a result, we appear to be giving the international oil companies a free hand to allocate world oil supplies as they see fit-a prospect |