I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4479 
To repeal provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 8, 2005 
Mr. HIGGINS (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. RUSH, and Mr. ISRAEL) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi-
tion to the Committees on Resources, Science, Energy and Commerce, 
Education and the Workforce, and Small Business, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To repeal provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Consumer Re-
lief Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following:
(1) During 2005, the price of crude oil reached 
a record $70 a barrel, the price of gas at the pump 
reached a record price of $3 per gallon, and the 
price of natural gas reached a record of $14.75 per 
million BTUs on October 5, 2005. 
(2) Record highs in oil and natural gas prices 
have resulted in record profits for oil and natural 
gas producers and refiners. In October 2005, the 
five largest oil companies reported a total of $32.7 
billion in the third quarter profits, a record increase 
of 52 percent over last year. Exxon Mobil recorded 
$9.9 billion, a 75 percent increase in profits; 
ChevronTexaco recorded $3.6 billion, a 13 percent 
increase in profits; Conoco Phillips recorded $3.8 
billion, an 89 percent increase in profits; BP re-
corded $6.5 billion, a 34 percent increase in profits; 
and Royal Dutch Shell recorded $9.03 billion, a 68 
percent increase in profits. Over the first three quar-
ters of the year, the top five oil companies recorded 
a combined total of $81 billion in profits. 
(3) Higher oil company profits have been ac-
companied by a dramatic increase in pay and com-
pensation for the senior executives at major oil com-
panies. The total 2004 direct compensation for the 
top five oil and gas company executives, as reported
in a Wall Street Journal survey, averaged $16.5 mil-
lion, double the prior year. 
(4) The CEO’s of the top five oil companies 
stated at a November 9, 2005, joint hearing of the 
Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee 
and the Senate Environment and Public Works 
Committee that their respective companies did not 
need the Federal tax incentives provided in the En-
ergy Policy Act of 2005. 
(5) The effective tax rates of the top five oil 
companies averaged 13.3 percent over the three-year 
period 2001–2003, well below the 35 percent rate, 
and in contrast to those in the health care industry, 
the financial industry, the pharmaceutical industry, 
the computer industry and the chemical industry. 
(6) Oil prices are projected to remain high for 
the foreseeable future, translating into continued 
high oil company profits. According to the Adminis-
trator of the Energy Information Administration, 
the Administration’s 2006 Annual Energy Outlook 
will forecast an oil price in 2025 that is nearly $20 
a barrel higher than the 2005 Outlook. 
(7) The Federal budget deficit this year was 
$319 billion, the third largest in history, and the na-
tional debt is currently above $8 trillion.
(8) In light of the size of the Federal budget 
deficit and the national debt, the record price of oil 
and natural gas, and the historic profits earned by 
oil and natural gas producers, there is no justifica-
tion for granting such companies special tax breaks 
and exemptions from paying royalties for drilling for 
oil and natural gas on public lands, as was author-
ized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 
(9) Home heating costs are expected to jump 
dramatically this winter, even after consumers have 
paid hundred of dollars more this year in gasoline 
costs. This is squeezing the pocketbooks of millions 
of hard-working families. Americans who heat their 
homes with natural gas could see their fuel costs in-
crease as much as 50 percent in some parts of the 
country. On average, the more than half of all Amer-
ican households heating with natural gas are ex-
pected to spend 38 percent more this winter on fuel. 
Households heating with heating oil can expect to 
pay 21 percent more this winter. The National En-
ergy Assistance Directors’ Association reports that 
the average family using heating oil will pay nearly 
three times the amount families paid in 2001 to 
2002.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CERTAIN TAX SUBSIDIES FOR THE OIL 
AND GAS INDUSTRY. 
(a) REPEAL OF ELECTION TO EXPENSE CERTAIN 
REFINERIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 
179C(c)(1) of such Code (relating to qualified refin-
ery property) is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 
2012’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of the enactment of 
the Energy Consumer Relief Act of 2005’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply to property placed in 
service after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) REPEAL OF TREATMENT OF NATURAL GAS DIS-
TRIBUTION LINES AS 15-YEAR PROPERTY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Clause (viii) of section 
168(e)(3)(E) of such Code (relating to 15-year prop-
erty) is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 2011’’ and 
inserting ‘‘the Energy Consumer Relief Act of 
2005’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply to property placed in 
service after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(c) REPEAL
OF TREATMENT
OF NATURAL GAS 
GATHERING LINES AS 7-YEAR PROPERTY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Clause (iv) of section 
168(e)(3)(C) of such Code (relating to 7-year prop-
erty) is amended by inserting ‘‘and which is placed 
in service before the date of the enactment of the 
Energy Consumer Relief Act of 2005’’ after ‘‘April 
11, 2005,’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply to property placed in 
service after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) REPEAL
OF NEW RULE
FOR DETERMINING 
SMALL REFINER EXCEPTION TO OIL DEPLETION DEDUC-
TION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 
613A(d) of such Code (relating to certain refiners 
excluded) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(4) CERTAIN
REFINERS
EXCLUDED.—If the 
taxpayer or a related person engages in the refining 
of crude oil, subsection (c) shall not apply to such 
taxpayer if on any day during the taxable year the 
refinery runs of the taxpayer and such person exceed 
50,000 barrels.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply to taxable years begin-
ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(e) REPEAL OF AMORTIZATION OF GEOLOGICAL AND 
GEOPHYSICAL EXPENDITURES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 167 of such Code 
(relating to depreciation) is amended by striking 
subsection (h). 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
263A(c)(3) of such Code is amended by striking 
‘‘167(h),’’. 
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall apply to amounts paid or in-
curred after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF CERTAIN OTHER PROVISIONS PRO-
VIDING INCENTIVES FOR THE OIL AND GAS 
INDUSTRY. 
The following provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 (Public Law 109–58) are repealed: 
(1) Section 343 (relating to marginal property 
production incentives). 
(2) Section 344 (relating to incentives for nat-
ural gas production from deep wells in the shallow 
waters of the Gulf of Mexico). 
(3) Section 345 (relating to royalty relief for 
deep water production). 
(4) Section 346 (relating to Alaska offshore 
royalty suspension). 
(5) Section 347 (relating to oil and gas leasing 
in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska).
(6) Section 351 (relating to preservation of geo-
logical and geophysical data). 
(7) Section 357 (relating to a comprehensive in-
ventory of OCS oil and natural gas resources). 
(8) Section 362 (relating to management of 
Federal oil and gas leasing programs). 
(9) Section 965 (relating to oil and gas re-
search programs). 
(10) Section 966 (relating to low-volume oil and 
gas reservoir research program). 
(11) Subtitle J of title IX (relating to ultra- 
deepwater and unconventional natural gas and other 
petroleum resources). 
SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT TO SUSPEND ROYALTY RELIEF. 
(a) REQUIREMENT
TO SUSPEND.—The President 
shall suspend the application of any provision of Federal 
law under which any person is given relief from any re-
quirement to pay royalty for production oil or natural gas 
from Federal lands (including submerge lands), for pro-
duction occurring in any period with respect to which— 
(1) in the case of production of oil, the average 
price of crude oil in the United States over the most 
recent 4 consecutive weeks is greater than $40 per 
barrel, or such lesser amount as applies for such
purpose under the lease under which such produc-
tion occurs; and 
(2) in the case of production of natural gas, the 
average wellhead price of natural gas in the United 
States over the most recent 4 consecutive weeks is 
greater than $5 per thousand cubic feet, or such 
lesser amount as applies for such purpose under the 
lease under which such production occurs. 
(b) DETERMINATION
OF
MARKET
PRICE.—The 
President shall determine average prices for purposes of 
subsection (a) based on the most recent data reported by 
the Energy Information Administration of the Depart-
ment of Energy. 
SEC. 6. EXPENDITURE OF ADDITIONAL REVENUE. 
Amounts equivalent to the increased revenues re-
ceived in the Treasury as the result of the enactment of 
this Act (reduced by decreases in such revenues as the 
result of sections 7 and 8), up to a total of $2,000,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2006 and 2007, shall be directly 
available to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
for obligation and expenditure for allotment under section 
2604(e) of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act 
of 1981. In making allotments of funds made available 
under this section, the Secretary shall give due regard to 
the most recent estimates available from the Department
of Energy regarding anticipated energy prices during the 
heating and cooling seasons for which funds are being pro-
vided, and to the probable effect of those prices on the 
heating and cooling expenses of low-income households. 
SEC. 7. REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR ENERGY COST AS-
SISTANCE OF FARMERS AND RANCHERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by redes-
ignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting after 
section 35 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 36. CREDIT FOR ENERGY COST ASSISTANCE FOR 
FARMERS AND RANCHERS. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of an eligible tax-
payer, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 
imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year an amount 
equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(1) 20 percent of the amount paid or incurred 
for qualified energy costs, or 
‘‘(2) $1,500. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘eligible taxpayer’ means any individual 
engaged in a farming business (as defined in section 
263A(e)(4)).
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED ENERGY COSTS.—For purposes of 
this section, the term ‘qualified energy costs’ means the 
cost of any fuel, energy utility, natural gas, propane gas, 
LP gas, fertilizer, and heating oil used in the farming 
business of the taxpayer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 
qualified energy costs paid or incurred after December 31, 
2005.’’. 
(b) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 280C of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) ENERGY
ASSISTANCE
FOR
FARMERS
AND 
RANCHERS.—No deduction shall be allowed for that por-
tion of the expenses otherwise allowable as a deduction 
for the taxable year which is equal to the amount of the 
credit determined under section 36(a).’’. 
(c) REFUNDABILITY.—Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ before 
‘‘enacted’’ and by inserting before the period at the end 
‘‘, or from section 36 of such Code’’. 
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 
for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik-
ing the item relating to section 35 and by adding at the 
end the following new items:
‘‘Sec. 36. Credit for energy cost assistance for farmers and ranchers. 
‘‘Sec. 37. Overpayments of tax.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2004. 
SEC. 8. SMALL BUSINESS ENERGY EMERGENCY GRANT 
PROGRAM. 
(a) 
SMALL
BUSINESS
ENERGY
EMERGENCY 
GRANTS.—The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et 
seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 37 as section 38; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 36 the following 
new section 37: 
‘‘SEC. 37. ENERGY EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es-
tablish and carry out an Energy Emergency Grant Pro-
gram through which the Administrator may make a grant 
to a small business concern that the Administrator deter-
mines has suffered or is likely to suffer substantial eco-
nomic injury as a result of a significant increase in the 
price of heating oil, natural gas, gasoline, transportation 
fuel, propane, or kerosene. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 
‘‘(1) LIMITATION.—No grant under this section 
may exceed $1,500.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator may 
waive the limitation under paragraph (1) for a small 
business concern if the Administrator determines 
that the small business concern constitutes a major 
source of employment in its surrounding area. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘significant increase’ means— 
‘‘(A) with respect to the price of heating 
oil, natural gas, gasoline, transportation fuel, or 
propane, an increase of the current price index 
over the base price index by not less than 30 
percent; and 
‘‘(B) with respect to the price of kerosene, 
any increase which the Administrator, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Energy, deter-
mines to be significant. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘current price index’ means the 
moving average of the closing unit price on the New 
York Mercantile Exchange, for the 10 most recent 
trading days, for contracts to purchase heating oil, 
natural gas, gasoline, transportation fuel, or propane 
during the subsequent calendar month, commonly 
known as the ‘front month’. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘base price index’ means the 
moving average of the closing unit price on the New