The bill, which won easy approval from the House Energy and Commerce Committee late Wednesday, includes a waiver that would protect the chemical makers, which are some of the biggest oil giants in the United States, from all MTBE liability lawsuits filed since September 2003.
The House majority leader, Tom DeLay, and Representative Joe L. Barton, who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee, are staunch supporters of the waiver. Both are Republicans from Texas, where more than a dozen MTBE manufacturers are based.
While the protection is expected to survive a House floor vote later this month, the big fight looms in the Senate, which blocked passage in 2003 largely because of the waiver.
Mr. Barton said an energy bill, even one containing the controversial waiver, has a better chance of passing this time because of Congress's frustration with gasoline prices. But the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee seems no more inclined to support MTBE protection now. "For a lot of senators this is a deal-breaker issue that would prompt them to vote down again an energy bill that they would otherwise support," said Marnie Funk, the committee spokeswoman. [thanks to Sharon]
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