[ inaudible ]. Mr. James barnes and mrs. Heather barnes. The honorable [ inaudible ] [ inaudible ]. Mr. John runes and mrs. Mrs. Runes. Honorable [ inaudible ]. Honorable rose and mr. Frank rhodes. Some of the arrival at the booksellers room and up to the north portico. President obama and First Lady Michelle Obama preparing to greet tonights honored guest the Prime Minister of japan shinzo abe and his wife. Live coverage here on cspan3. The president and first lady welcoming Prime Minister shinzo abe of japan and his wife to the white house. Youre on cspan3 and take you back live. The booksellers area where other guests are arriving for tonights state dinner for shinzo abe and his wife. Live coverage here on cspan3. Mr. Bob dan and mrs. Rainy dan. [ inaudible ] the home Daniel Russell and ms. Kito russell. [ inaudible ] the honorable kito chen. Mr. Ron and mrs. John olivere. Mr. Paul glenn iii. Honorable ron wyden and mrs. Widen. How are your use of chopsticks . It will be challenging in that department. Yes. Will you use the flatware. I always play it safe. Ill try a double threat and use both. I am obviously theres a long way to go, but the fact that we had such a thrown vote in the Senate Finance committee including a majority of finance democrats certainly got us off to a good start. Thanks, everybody. [ inaudible ] honorable nancy pelosi and mr. Pelosi. Senator tom parker and mrs. Parker. Mr. Russell wilson and miss ciera harris. Is this the right carpet here . I havent been here yet so im excited. [ inaudible ] [ inaudible ]. The honorable Gregory Meeks and mrs. Meeks. The honorable Catherine Russell and the honorable thomas donilon. Honorable paul ryan and mrs. Ryan. The honorable parker and mr. Parker. Your son . Yes. My daughter is a senior in high school but hes a junior at georgetown so hes always my date. How old are you . 21. So you can direct now. Thats what i told him. He just turned 21. He said he didnt want to drink though. Have you been to the white house before . Yeah, i got to go to the white house before. Not too shabby. I asked him last night. Yeah, you know. Shes going to be more excited if she sees him on tv. Ive got this thing at the white house. Do you want to go . And you had the tux ready to go . No, we called the rental place. Last time they still had his measurabilities but i wanted to make sure because this is his last week of finals. I wanted to make sure are you studied up . Yeah, yeah, im good. I have an oral exam friday but im good. Thanks so much. Thank you all. Enjoy. All right, guys. We are done. That wraps up the arrival of guests of the state dinner of mr. Shinzo abe and look for the toast. Well have coverage of the toast later on the cspan networks. The day began in washington with the arrival of shinzo abe at the white house at about 9 00 eastern. Present. All present. Forward. Present. Ladies and gentlemen the president of the United States and mrs. Michelle obama. [ playing hail to the chief ] ladies and gentlemen, the National Anthem of japan followed by the National Anthem of the United States. Present. [ playing the National Anthem of japan ] [ playing the starspangled banner ] mr. Prime minister the honor guard for inspection. Mr. Prime minister, please. When youre ready, sir. Ready. Ceremonial. Mr. President , this concludes the honors. Good morning. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] [ applause ] on behalf of the American People and michelle and myself it is a great honor for me to welcome Prime Minister abe of japan. One of the closest allies of the world. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] across japan over the coming days, our japanese friends are marking special holidays honoring their history, celebrating their constitution, giving gratitude for natures beauty and expressing their hopes for their children. Now with this visit it is truly an honor. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] for michelle and myself, this is an opportunity to return the hospitality that shinzo, akie and the japanese people have shown us in the past. In kyoto, michelle had the honor of playing tiko drums and in tokyo i played with semo the robot. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] this visit is a celebration of the ties of friendship and family that bind our peoples. I first felt it when i was 6 years old when my mother took me to japan. I felt it growing up in hawaii like communities across our country, home to so many proud japaneseamericans. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] today is also a chance for americans, especially our young people, to say thank you for all the things we love from japan. Like karaoke, manga and anime and, of course, emojis. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] and this visit also has an historic significance. In 1960 shinzo abes grandfather was welcomed here and they signed a treaty that endures to this day committing japan and america to an indestructible relationship. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] today we welcome Prime Minister abe as we broaden our alliance for our time. The United States has renewed our leadership in the asiapacific. Prime minister abe is leading the world to a role on a new stage. The foundation of both efforts is a strong u. S. Japan japan alliance. [ speaking in Foreign Language ]japan alliance. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] japan alliance. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] ours is an alliance focused on the future, the security of our nations and the world trade that is fair and free and the equal opportunity and human rights of all people around the world and in our countries as well including girls because they deserve to truly shine. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] Prime Minister abe, mrs. Abe, members of the japanese delegation, we are truly honored to have you here as great allies and as true friends. Welcome to the United States. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] [ applause ] good morning. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] translator mr. President , mrs. Obama ladies and gentlemen, i thank you president obamas warm welcome. Two years ago when i visited washington, d. C. , it was in february during the cold season of the year. I am honored to be back in this season when we can enjoy the beautiful season south lawn of the white house. And i want to express my appreciation for the cordial welcome from our american friends. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] translator this official visit to the United States is a special one for me. Since i took office, the top priority of my Foreign Policy has been to revitalize the alliance between japan and the United States. And here at washington, d. C. , i had a summit meeting with president obama two years ago and since then, together with mr. President , we have been addressing issues such as the Transpacific Partnership and the realignment of u. S. Forces. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] translator and now, our bilateral relationship is more robust than ever. Our alliance is back on track and is even stronger. This official visit is a culmination of what we have been doing for the past two years and it is a great pleasure for me to realize this visit. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] translator the development of japan u. S. Relationship is not something we could achieve without the history of longstanding bilateral cooperation over the years. There have been the relationship of trusts between the leaders, the relationship of coop operation between the nation and the two governments and friendship from people to People Exchange between the two people. All of these have played an Important Role as a key pillar for the relationship. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] translator the world is facing new challenges more than ever. Japan will be at the forefront with the United States in addressing regional and global challenges while developing our bilateral ties with the United States in a consistent manner. And i very much look forward to having a discussion with president obama today on those challenges. [ speaking in Foreign Language ] translator mr. President , mrs. Obama thank you again for the warm and cordial welcome and hospitality. Thank you so much. Heres whats happening on cspan 3 tonight. First, a look at the white house proposal to update u. S. Energy infrastructure. Then, Bill Schuster talks about pending highway legislation and his relationship with an aviation lobbyist. After that, a discussion on how neighboring countries are affected by the ongoing refugee situation in libya. And later a look at Global Threats and Defense Systems being developed by the pentagon. Coming up here on cspan 3 at 10 00 a. M. Eastern, live coverage of a hearing before the House Oversight committee on how a small gyrcopter entered in the air space and then later in the morning on cspan a joint meeting of congress from the Prime Minister of japan. Well have that live at 11 00. A press release from republican senator lisa murkowski, chair of the energy and Natural Resources committee offering to work with Energy Secretary ernets moniz. The Energy Secretary was before the committee today testing about the White House Quadrennial Energy review a review that recommends more than 15 billion in new spending and tax credits to modernize the Nations Energy fran structure, which includes millions of miles of pipelines and oil and natural gas and electricity facilities. Heres the hearing. Its about two hours. Good morning. Welcome to the committee. The hearing will now come to order. Were here this morning to review the first installment of the quadrennial Energy Review. We call it the qer around here. Were pleased to have secretary moniz back before the committee. This is your second time so far this year. We appreciate not only the Public Engagement but the time that i know you give each of us as you come to either discuss issues in our offices or through your frequent phone calls. I appreciate that engagement and that reachout. I think its very helpful. Secretary moniz oversaw the development of this report at the department of energy and again, i think many of us have had an opportunity to have a little bit of discussion on this report but this morning is our opportunity as a committee to review it. In the United States we take it for granted that when we flip a switch, the lights turn on that our devices charge up when we plug them into the wall that when we pull off the side of the road to fill up at a gas station when were on a family trip, that everything works. We live in a country that has abundant resources and Innovative Technologies that make our way of life and our standard of living the envy of many around the world. And we should be proud of the tremendous progress that has been made but also recognize that nothing is guaranteed to stay this way and thats particularly true when it comes to our Energy Infrastructure, which i think we will all acknowledge is facing serious challenges across the country right now. We regularly focus on opportunities to improve Energy Infrastructure in this committee. Already this year, we have held hearings on innovation related to the electric grid, increased oil production, our opportunities in the arctic and the importance of pipeline infrastructure. I think todays hearing is a good next step here. The qer looks at our Nations Energy infrastructure at a critical time. Many of our systems are aging and in urgent need of modernization. Weve seen dramatic increases of course in energy production, oil and gas are at record levels, the Market Penetration is on the rise and the stress placed on our systems has increased faster than it can be addressed. The qer makes a number of recommendations to alleviate these current deficiencies. In many cases the solution is new spending adding up to potentially billions of dollars but i think its important to note that the vast majority of the nations infrastructure is privately owned and sustained and improved by private investment. At the same time, i understand that advancing our Energy Infrastructure will require some federal funding even within our constrained budgets. But federal spending is not all that matters. So do regulations, particularly those that hold back projects and private investments. We have to keep that in mind as we seek to find a better balance. As i go out and talk to folks in alaska or just really anywhere in the country so many of the business interests when they are talking about infrastructure and where we are they say, what we really need is some level of certainty. We want some level of certainty so that we can go ahead and make shes substantial investments. Now, as we are here to discuss infrastructure today i do think that it is relevant to point out that the keystone xl pipeline has been delayed for over 2400 days. We have, in my state a critically important piece of infrastructure that transalaska pipeline system. Its something that i worry about and recognize that without ensuring that that pipeline has the resources that it carries, it is a piece of infrastructure that could face declining health and strength and its something that i worry about. Its one thing to read a report outlining our infrastructure challenges but another to set out proactively to solve them every day. Any modernization of Energy Policy should, in my view visit the defacto ban on oil exports that we have imposed over 40 years ago. I think the qer is too light in that regard. I was, however pleased to see it recognize the unique issues that impact the arctic and the valuable role of the United States can play as chair of the arctic council. I was with secretary kerry on friday but again understanding our role as an arctic nation there, i think its key and i appreciate the focus that has been given. We know that we have significant infrastructure challenges and we know that were going to have to Work Together to solve them and that goes for the members of this committee as well as we work on a broad energy bill noting that infrastructure is one of our key titles within that bill. And it goes for congress and the administration as well. Working together here. We can use the qer as a reference piece or a template to weigh ideas and to discover potential solutions for our energy bill and weve discussed that with the secretary. And secretary as you face as with you as the face and the focus behind the effort, i do think weve got an opportunity here to make considerable progress on infrastructure issues as we move forward with that. Again, i thank you for your leadership. On that i look forward to you outlining the terms of the report this morning. And with that i turn to senator cantwell. Thank you, madam chair, and thank you for holding this important hearing on transforming u. S. Energy infrastructure and i thank secretary moniz for all that he does shuttling back and forth between iran sanctions discussions and the quadrennial review must be a wide breadth of focus. So thank you very much. This hearing today is particularly important because infrastructure is the links of all of the components of our National Energy system and its increasingly complex. Its independent and, certainly as the report shows, is in need of an upgrade. As we begin the legislative process of crafting a Bipartisan Energy bill, its essential to have an analysis and data of the infrastructure that supports the systems. The need for reliable and sufficient supply of energy is becoming closely intertwined with our Economic Growth and competitiveness. Thats why its even more important that we understand the trends affecting the infrastructure deliveries of these commodities. For instance, theres been a surge in crude oil by rail in the last five years. In a fiveyear period starting from 2009, there was an increase of roughly 4,000 4,400 in the volume of rail shipment. This trend has had a number of implications. For example, crude oil now competes with other kmod mod teas, which caused delays in delivery of crops and Agricultural Products to market. The report explicitly states that these recent unexpected shifts in supply and demand for rail service has resulted in disruption to agricultural shipments, quote exceeding even those caused by hurricane katrina, end quote. The department of Agricultural Marketing service concluded that, quote, the current rail Service Problem has exceeded previous events in terms of both magnitude and dur rags including hurricane katrina, which caused major disruptions throughout the entire agricultural system. With safety implications. Obviously this carries safety risks and we also have to talk about barriers for new technology. Investing in infrastructure upgrade enables the vast benefits of new technology to increase efficiency and create jobs. In fact, projections indicate that by 2030 the Energy Sector will employ a 1. 5 million workers and changes in the Electricity Sector affect the number of types of energy jobs. New Technology Jobs demand new skill training in the electricity workforce and im glad to see that was part of the report. Older Business Models are going to change and our economy is going to involve the electricity business that must keep pace with the innovation and continue to be efficient and flexible and advanced and this work is important because our grid, i believe, is a platform. Its a platform for products and services and technology not only in the United States of america but for electricity all around the globe. I was struck yesterday by the report that solar lamps were the only public lighting sources initially available in parts of nepal after the tragic earthquake and avalanche this weekend. So new technology plays a role here and at home and in making sure that our Energy Systems are resilient and more secure. So obviously here in the u. S. We have been working with our laboratories in developing policies that inform fran structure so in terms of the different states and different geographic priorities and different mixes of energy but its my hope that we can accelerate the modernization of our grid by ensuring best practices and innovation driven ground approaches can be implemented. As the quadrennial also notes, most of our nations transmission source and distribution structure is owned and operated by a private sector. Thats why this is a private Sector Partnership that again is called for in the report. In 2008 Edison Electric institute estimated by 2030, the u. S. Electrical Utility Industry would need to make a total Infrastructure Investment of 1. 5 trillion to 2 trillion. That was the range. So analysis concludes that natural gas interstate Pipeline Investment will range between 39 and 52 billion between the similar time period and depending on overall natural gas demand. So what is the cost of doing nothing . Well, between 2013 and 2012 an estimated 679 widespread Power Outages occurred due to Severe Weather which cost the economy 16 billion each year between 2013 and im sorry. 2003 and 2013. So and as i mentioned the political report talks about spills and likes and explosions from both oil and gas pipelines. That weve incurred costs on. So investments that promote Innovative Solutions enhanced Energy Resilience and reliability and security clearly have huge benefits to our economy and i think thats what the report is trying to out leanline. So thank you for keeping our focus on what we need to do to take advantage of our Energy Resources but make them work better for the future here years ahead. Thank you. Thank you senator cantwell. Now we will turn to the honorable secretary moniz for your comments this morning and look forward to a series of questions after. Welcome. Well thank you, chairman murkowski, Ranking Member cantwell and other distinguished members of the committee. I very much appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you the quadrennial Energy Review and also thank you for the patience of the committee in terms of the scheduling of this hearing. I am going to ask for your indulgence to take a slight detour picking up on what senator cantwell said of our other missions. I want to say a little bit about the accomplishments of the department of energy within the last several weeks. We have Many Missions nuclear security, Waste Management and cleanup and i wanted to note that within the last four weeks, as you saw the our laboratories, et cetera, have been a major support in the iran negotiations. On energy were here today to discuss the qer which just came out. On science, we just completed the coral announcement which is the next big step on supercomputing and on the waste side we had the important decision a few weeks ago to pursue defense waste in a targeted way. So i just wanted to say that this department is doing work in a whole broad range of areas and i think with great accomplishment. Madam chairman i dont know if that means that energy is at the center of things or senator moniz. No, this is the department of energy. Were glad for it either way. And our laboratories are a huge glue in terms of pursing all of these missions. I just couldnt pass that up. Anyway, qer, so, again last week the administration released the first installment and, as you know focused on Energy Distribution including the huge network of pipes wires storage, waterways, railroads and other facilities that are at the backbone of our Energy Systems. The qer comes at a time, as the chair said pretty Dramatic Energy revolution in our country and we are reaping tremendous benefits and were also seeing the challenges to our fran structure for distributing these supplies infrastructure developed decades ago for a Different Energy world. These new challenges require us to modernize and transform the infrastructure to meet environmental and energy and competitiveness goals indeed for the next century. President obama established this qer task force. It had 22 agencies involved. Just demonstrating the breadth of the equities in the Energy System. Cochaired out of the by the director of the office of science and Technology Policy and domestic policy councils, special assistant to the president for energy and climate. Department of energy was the executive secretary for the task force and performed or commissioned an extensive number of technical and scientific analyses. Our office of Energy Policy and systems analysis did much of the heavy lifting for this qer. We undertook an open transparent process involving experts and stakeholders, included 14 Public Meetings around the country and also a meeting in canada and discussions with our mexico come patriots. We released a final document a week ago and thats available on the web. The first installment provides policy makers, we think with a road map for meeting our key energy objectives. There are several crosscutting themes also covered, including jobs and environment infrastructure siting and, importantly, the integration of north American Energy markets. Let me just highlight a few recommendations, for example on resilience. Clearly a National Priority resilience reliability, safety and security of our infrastructure. For example, we recommend establishing a Competitive Program of targeted funding to accelerate pipeline replacement and enhanced Maintenance Programs for Natural Gas Distribution systems. Another, by the way, very big ticket facing our country, a quarter of a trillion dollars over the next decades supporting the assurance plans and then establishing a Competitive Grant Program to promote Innovative Solutions from the states for enhancing Energy Infrastructure, resilience and reliability. That Competitive Program to move the needle would ultimately require 3 to 5 billion over a decade. We also recommend looking at and then mitigating the risks associated with the loss of large transformers. We make recommendations in modernizing the electric grid. Once again a strong emphasis on providing state Financial Assistance to promote and integrate fran integrate infrastructure and investment plans efficiency and low carbon generation are twostate Planning Grant programs we recommend in our fy 2016 budget. Clearly we promote grid modernization, another example of something in our 2016 budget but only a down payment but estimate to be a 3. 5 billion of federal expenditures to help with grid modernization. A few other recommendations ill just touch on. Importantly, we need investments to optimize the Petroleum Reserve of both to upgrade it maintenance, distribution capacity but also recommend with congress a revisiting of release authorities to reflect modern oil markets. We look at associated fran infrastructures and, for example, support a new program of competitively awarded grants for share Energy Transport assets, such as key interconnectors from our Energy Intensive ports. We feel its a very important and not very expensive but important activity to address Critical Data energy gaps in Rail Transport of Energy Commodities and supplies. We support alternative mechanisms for our waterways and we strongly emphasize collaborating with our canadian and mexican counterparts. For example, in what is already proving to be a successful integration of how we collect and share data energy data. To conclude the administrations budget request, as i indicated, does include a down payment on some of the key recommendations but clearly to move forward we will need a bipartisan commitment to modernize the Nations Energy infrastructure. We look forward to working with members of the committee and others in congress as we work out these next steps. We are living with the infrastructure decisions made decades ago and similarly the next generation will look at our decisions taken and those not taken for how we shape the Energy Infrastructure and the Energy System in the decades ahead. So thank you chairman murkowski. I look forward to our discussion. Thank you mr. Secretary. Again, appreciate your leadership on this and the opportunity to work with you Going Forward. This is a big report. Theres a lot in it. There is as much to consider but we see a lot of good, thoughtful reports with much to consider that come before us here in the congress. And one complaint that many of us have is that we and this is not corrected at you but we see these good strong followreports but then theres no follow up. One is the from last congress. I proposed it and the president noted it in one of his state of the unions. We never really saw anything happen from that. So the question, very broadly is how do you envision a plan for engagement with this committee, with the congress on the qer beyond this hearing . Are you looking for input from members of congress here or are you going to send legislative texts . How are you moving forward from a broader perspective . Madam chair if i may give a little historical perspective, i was cochair of the president s council of advisers science and Technology Task force that recommended doing the qer a few years ago and as we were contemplating this we met with many members of congress and it was interesting, we thought that many of the members emphasized their interest in this qer because they felt that a process that brought together many agencies that have so many Energy Equities to the congress which, frankly just like we have a department of energy, we have a committee on energy but many other committees having equities in this that this might provide a good basis for the kind of discussion that we need for a more comprehensive look. We now have the product. I believe it could really help us in our administration congress, both chambers both sides of the aisle discussion. So i certainly a i know that many of my colleagues, i hope we have a road map for much of our discussion want to engage in that discussion, certainly in both chambers. Well, and i would encourage you to do that. As you know were looking on this side to build Energy Reform bill that is broader and comprehensive in scope and many of the proposals that you are outlining in the qer, i think we can look to. I know that on the house side they are doing the same but thats going to take a level of engagement. We are totally prepared for that and would be eager to engage in those discussions. Let me ask you about a specific infrastructure project. As you know, we have extraordinary quantities of natural gas in alaska but what we lack right now is the infrastructure to move that natural gas to market. This week we have mr. Abe from japan here in washington, d. C. , and, believe me, alaskans would love to sell that natural gas to asia, to japan. But it is a huge project. Were looking at a project anywhere upwards of 60 to 65 billion world class in its scope, really unparallel. You have mentioned before this committee and to me that the process for evaluating the license for the alaska l g project is kind of in a different category if you will, for projects in the lower 48. Can you just again, assure me that you are pursing a conditional license for the alaska lng project and that in this process Going Forward that this project is receiving your full attention . Yes. Im happy to repeat that. We view again the getting moving the monetizing the natural gas in alaska is a very different proposition from that in the lower 48. As you said, first of all, the costs are enormous to move it to an export facility. So we will we are looking at this in a separate way. Two points. Well, we have already approved the Free Trade Agreement part. We are actively looking at the nonfda part for a conditional approval. Its different from our lower 48 approach but the conditions the special factors merit that and we are following through on that. Appreciate that. Lets go to senator cantwell. Thank you madam chair. Mr. Secretary, i have so many questions. I might have to submit some for the record. I want to start by this crude by rail and agricultural issue that was outlined in the report the fact that it is displacing product in the marketplace right now. Were actually discussing this in the Commerce Committee as well but since this quadrennial report is such a comprehensive agency report, what are the next steps in dealing with that and what specifically are you doing at the department of energy on the volatility issue in giving us some analysis about that and what would the timeline be for that . Okay. Thank you for the question. First of all, with regard to the commodity commodity issue, in terms of frankly, theres been very, very sparse Data Available and the eia has already now launched a program collaborating with the department of transportation to get data on the movement of Energy Commodities, oil, ethanol, et cetera. But we would like to also and we recommend a collaboration with other departments, including usda and others to have a more unified commodity database. By the way and i should have said coal as well. Particularly in the Energy Sector, again, oil ethanol, coal movements. But as you said theres a competition often right now for moving multiple commodities and we would like to get a multiagency approach to that. With regard to the oil by rail specifically, we are collaborating with d. O. T. We have already put out from sandea what was a literature survey so far in terms of properties of different oils, mostly especially the oil that is the focus of a lot of concern. That first report a literature survey only and only available literature. It had interesting findings including the need for much more systematic character rye zags data of crudes. It did suggest that the data that were reviewed did not imply that any one property of the oil would, you know, determine what would happen in terms of combustability in an accident. Secretary fox and i have agreed to launch and it is probably going to take and there is some impatience but it will probably take two years to get through the Research Program that would include really research into the characterization, the samples with a focus on what the implications will be for testing and then understanding how crude Oil Properties affect things like combustibility. But your findings that you its not something to ignore. You are undertaking more research on it because you are concerned . Absolutely. Can i ask you about and there is a lot of experience in looking at combustibility. I saw in your report a lot of focus on working with states on upgrading the grid because of geographic diversity but transformers are obviously a key component here. What are your thoughts on how we get more investment in transformers . So we recommend completing the analysis there and then depending on the results talking about a Public Private partnership to move towards a reserve. When we released the quadrennial Energy Review last week with the Vice President in philadelphia, we visited pico a major utility which is actually on the Technology Forefront in many cases and there so they, for example, a large utility like that, does have some of its own reserve capacity with transformers. But we need to get a systematize systematized view of that. We have done a study specifically on a transformer reserve. We have to pull this together over the next months and come back to congress the congress and the private sector in terms of what might be the most effective path forward. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. Senator gardener. Thank you madam chair and welcome back to the chair, secretary moniz. In the quadrennial Energy Review, you laid out four clear requirements for the report. One of the requirements was to review the adequacy with respect to Energy Policy of existing executive and legislative actions and recommend executive and legislative actions as appropriate and i believe the chair had cited one of those areas where we could have more Energy Policy driving action as the issue of l and g exports. Did the qer take into account or look at or will a result of it be discussions of crude oil exports or perhaps administrative action policy considerations of crude oil exports . The qer was really specifically focused on the infrastructure as opposed to that kind of a policy issue. So it does not really go into that in detail. Thank you. And then when it comes to modernizing the electric grid the example of taking too long and pursue modernizing and extending the grid, in the substation in pennsylvania the substation in new jersey, there was a need for a transmission line and it will be in service this spring but it took a total of eight years for that service line to come into service. So we have to have this adequate safeguards in place when it comes to making sure that were protecting the environment and moving forward in the right technologies but what do you think that congress can do to move forward with implementation in a more timely fashion . Well, first of all, i think we are making some progress and the Rapid Response transmission team, for example, has maybe not with the speed, always the desire but it has managed to get three projects to the permit stage, including the one that you mentioned. And there are three others now in the permitting stage and so, for example, on the trans west express project, we expect the eis to be out very very soon. And that project going into operation probably in 2017. So i think we do have a set of authorities and a set of Administration Institutions to try to streamline but its also clear that there are obstacles often put up and i know there are discussions in the congress, and i think the senator is looking at backstop authorities and we are happy to work again on the whole issue of expediting these projects. Thank you. I look forward to working with you. I have more questions on labs but ill leave that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you madam chairman and thank you mr. Secretary for first of all your service to our great country. I appreciate for what you do and for being here today. Speaking of the qer, i know when they went through this whole qer review they were talking about basically, the near term challenges due to the clean power plant, it did perform stress tests using the accelerated nuclear retirement scenario from the Energy Outlook 2014. Since we in West Virginia dont have any nuclear generation, this analysis is less relevant and the potential for Infrastructure Requirements for an accelerated coal plant and retirements that may result from the cpp. With will they be able to reperform the stress test modeling for ts and d, electrical transmission and Natural Gas Pipelines using the results of the eia cpp analysis . My concern is reliability of the system right now. Were taking a lot of coalfired plants off and they are not coming back online. So were going to have a lot of capacity and if the lines are not energized or we dont have the reliability we could be in serious problems. Thats what were concerned about and i didnt know if you all were willing to look at that. First of all, there were a set of analysis relevant to that but id be happy to define a scenario that might answer your specific questions needs. I will say again we have a number of analyses of relevance. For example, one of the issues related to your question is the question of a natural Gas Transmission line capacity. That was looked at and the conclusion was that, irs firefighterfirst of all, theres been a substantial buildout over the last decade. Theres quite a bit of reserve capacity there and so a conclusion there was that with regard to the natural Gas Transmission capacity, we are not looking at a need for you know, a major kind of national big buildout from what we have. There will be regional needs targeted around specific supply standards. Can i ask one question if i may . A lot of these power plants we have coalfired plants are not in areas where there is oil or enhanced oil capabilities. Are you all looking at transporting or pipeline transporting co 2 to get the enhanced recovery . Co2 pipelines, we have recommendations in the qer and, i might add the administration has basically, where all of ours were, in West Virginia kentucky pennsylvania . In general, i think we need to be able to collect the co2 and i would note that the administration has put forward roughly a 5 billion incentive proposal around Carbon Capture and sequestration and one of the interesting features of it is and its analysis id be happy to share with you and the committee if that one looks at, as a base case, an ultra Super Critical new coal plant with the appropriate amount of Carbon Capture the incentive structure in the Administration Proposal would essentially equalize the cost of going into deepen deep enhanced oil recovery and that could be relevant where you dont have the eor easily available. Well, and officially id asked if you would come and you were so gracious to say that we can work that out and explain to all of our utilities and providers, as far as our miners, of what the future may look like for them and how we best apply their skills to the needs of the Nations Energy demand. The country is still going to depend an awful lot on Coal Production as far producing. The administrations projections continue to have coal, with a somewhat lower but with a substantial share of electricity for quite some time. And in fact, another document that were putting together, a memo id be happy to share, is one that talks about the whole variety of programs we have on coal, and that includes the tax incentives i just mentioned. It includes the 8 billion solicitation that we now have on the loan program for fossil projects with lowered emissions. Clearly r d. We have also out of the department of labor Worker Community transition programs. So we have a whole variety of programs. And we probably need to pull those together in a coherent way, and id be happy to share that with the committee. Id love to have that and we look forward to West Virginia to explain it to the good people of my state. Great. Whats a good time . As soon as you can get there. All right. Thank you. Senator. Thank you madam chairman. As we had a chance to visit earlier, mr. Secretary, it was a nice article in todays usa today, Energy Progress has room to grow. For those that might have missed this in politico, ernest moniz, rock star. I hadnt seen that. I wish i still hadnt. I make this unanimous consent to make this part of the record. Only the picture to be part of the record. Thank you. I do have a couple questions because the quadrennial Energy Report states that it is essential to promote more timely permitting decisions and explains that theres a gap between typical permitting times for Energy Generation and production sources and a much longer time for midstream Energy Infrastructure. The report goes on to say that legal requirements for the permitting and review of major Infrastructure Projects have created complex processes that in some cases have taken years or longer to complete. So im glad that the administration is acknowledging that the federal permitting process is broken. But i do have concerns about some of the recommendations to fix it. The administration recommends more permitting fees more coordination among federal agencies, more Public Engagement, but it really the administration doesnt make mention of establishing deadlines for permit decisions. It doesnt mention repealing duplicative permitting regulations. It doesnt mention limiting lawsuits which slow the permitting process. So, you know, with all due respect, do we really believe that more money and coordination and engagement is also thats necessary to resolve the delays in the federal permitting process . No, i certainly dont. And going, in fact by the way to your opening statement, senator brasso opening words im going to say that over these last years, weve kind of seen a shift where often the infrastructure time has now become the long pole in the tent, for shifting of the Energy System, which is kind of a reversal a little bit of what it used to be. So i think we need to address these things. And we are trying to do that within our existing authorities but i want to point out that things like litigation, we cannot stop litigation. Its not a question of just federal authorities. The states play an enormous role. And of course, the more that we get into the issues of kind of semicontinental scale lets say transmission lines that cross multiple states without all of the states being beneficiaries, the obvious problems emerge, and thats what we are seeing in terms of multiple delays. Clearly, the issue of moving on corridors, for example, is set back often by the courts in respect to states options. Again, wed love to work with you and other members on that, but we are trying to expedite within the t. I. P. Program for western within 1222 authorities, where we do expect some progress this year but its slow in coming. Another thing that quadrennial Energy Review calls for is integrating north American Energy markets. It explains that Energy System integration is in the longterm interest of the United States, canada and mexico. States the integration of these markets creates economies of scale to attract private investment, lower capital costs, reduces energy costs for consumers. It also says mexicos Energy Reforms present an opportunity to increase energy trade with the United States and enhance Energy Security for the region. So im pleased the administration recognizes the benefits of increasing trade in Energy Resources. Again, the administration seems to really not have the ambition or the courage to achieve the stated goals specifically a policy which would allow crude oil exports to mexico. This is especially disappointing given bipartisan lawmakers in the house and senate have called on president obama to do just that. If the administration is serious about integrating north American Energy markets, shouldnt we allow crude oil exports to mexico . First of all, we share apparently, the focus on the importance of north American Energy. And the mexican Energy Reforms, i want to emphasize not only in the hydrocarbon sector but in the Electricity Sector, i think are really important and open up much more chance for us to be integrated on infrastructure and on energy trade and energy trade, even two years ago was already north of 200 billion among the three countries. Now, clearly in the qer, we did not address any specific project. And the question of oil exports is, as you well know is in the department of commerce hands. But i think that in light of the of the Energy Reform in particular revisiting those questions is quite appropriate. And as you know, the mexicans have also proposed for our consideration a swap concept of light and heavy oil. So i think these are all areas of active consideration. Thank you. Just finally, and ill have to submit written questions, mr. Secretary. Last week i wrote to you about the former deputy secretary of energy daniel pottiman. I expressed my concern about his appointment to the board of directors of a group of commodities, trader, and just have concerns about that and hope to get a quick timely response from you regarding that letter. So thank you madam chair. I can say your and the concern of other members brought to our attention has certainly led us to, you know, make sure all people in the department are aware, as is he of the rules in terms of interaction. Thank you. Thank you, madam chairman. Thank you, senator barrasso. As were discussing prompt replies, i am informed by my staff that some of the qfrs that we had submitted at the Budget Hearing several months ago have not yet been responded to by d. O. E. If you could just rattle the cage there i would appreciate it. I did that last week. Thank you. Thank you. Lets go to senator franken. Thank thank you madam chair. We have an interagency process to go through. Anyway, but i apologize for that. I want to be prompt with that. Thank you madam chair. Thank you, secretary moniz. In response to senator cantwell, you touched on the properties and characteristics of tidal oil specifically and specifical the characteristic of combustiblity and weve seen these crudebyrail accidents that have led to some pretty spectacular explosions and in some cases tragedy 47 People Killed in quebec during an accident. So let me ask about a very specific property which is vapor pressure. It causes i understand it by liquid, natural gases ngls. Yeah that are particularly explosive. As you may know on april 1st, north dakota or since then has been requiring vapor pressure bakken crude to be limited to 13. 7 pounds per square inch before its loaded into the railcars but the big explosion in West Virginia the vapor pressure of that oil was at 13. 9 psi. My question is whether the department of energy is working with the department of transportation in order to access the safety benefits of lowering crude oil vapor pressure before its loaded onto trains. Yes. So that is one of the specific focus areas of the work that i alluded to earlier that our lab has carried out and will carry out. But again, the early indications are that no one property seems to be directly correlated to the combustiblity issues but that will be researched much more in the next year, and then there will be specific combustion tests done in accident scenarios to test this out. The second issue is that frankly, the literature survey indicated that the lack of systematic characterization also didnt always make it clear what actually was being loaded. Okay. Well so we have to work on both of those. Theres obviously tremendous concern in the communities and the first responders. And secretary fox, again, is equally eager to resolve this, and we will be cost sharing this work. Thank you. Id like to ask you about the Nuclear Negotiations between the p5 plus 1 and iran you might know something about. The negotiated framework provides the basis for final agreement, and you have talked about how the framework blocks irans overt paths to a bomb, both the uranium route and the plutonium route, but the
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