House Republicans introduced their five-year, $260 billion energy and infrastructure package today, trumpeting it as an engine for economic recovery.

"This bill will put Americans back to work rebuilding our roads and bridges and developing new sources of low-cost energy," Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said. "This legislation may be the most important jobs measure to pass Congress this year."

The measure would generally keep funding at current levels while offering longer-term assurances to states that depend on federal transportation funding. The bill -- scheduled for a Thursday markup in Mica's committee -- would also streamline project approvals and redirect some authority to states.

The bill is partially funded with a trio of energy production measures, set to be marked up in the Natural Resources Committee tomorrow. The energy bills would open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas development, while requiring the Interior Department to lease hundreds of thousands of acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain.

Republicans also said they plan to attach to the energy and infrastructure package a provision that would override the president's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline (E&E Daily, Jan. 30).

The drilling pay-fors make the infrastructure bill -- normally a bipartisan enterprise -- a tough sell for Democrats.

Transportation Committee ranking member Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) has blasted the drilling language in the past, and Democrats appear unlikely to support the bill. In a statement today, longtime Transportation member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said he was "troubled" by many aspects of the bill, including the revenue decisions.

"Using revenues from gas and oil drilling would not be an appropriate mechanism to pay for our nation's infrastructure; and such a proposal is a twisted and ironic means of funding transit, rail and other environmentally sustainable modes of transportation," Nadler said in a statement.

Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) also said today that Democrats would likely oppose the bill because of the Keystone XL provision, saying the party opposes "trying to jam the president" on evaluating the pipeline.

But Hoyer conceded that the pipeline project "has merit" and said the Keystone XL language was "more appropriate for consideration on the transportation and infrastructure bill" than on the payroll tax cut that Republicans attached it to last month.

Mica said the Keystone language would not threaten the bill, saying there was more support for the pipeline in both the House and Senate than people thought.

Democrats and environmental groups have also expressed concern with several aspects of the transportation bill, including potential cuts to passenger rail and transit projects. Environmental groups have also raised concerns about the shortened project review process, which they say strikes down important environmental checks.

Inhofe backs drilling language

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, offered some support to the House bill, saying that the domestic energy production measures were an appropriate way to fund infrastructure projects. In a video posted on his website this afternoon, Inhofe noted that drilling "won't fund everything" but said that "many revenue options are necessary."

"It is unfair to call this approach a poison pill just because many Democrats don't want to tap into this nation's vast energy resources," said Inhofe, who is working with Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to push a transportation bill through the Senate.

"Everybody needs to keep an open mind as the only way to get a highway bill done is for both the House and Senate to pass a bill," he said. "This is a critical first step and as such should not be condemned."

Inhofe, an advocate of expanded domestic production, had previously come out against the House proposal, saying that the drilling language would not provide enough money in the time frame needed. But, Inhofe told reporters today, the most important step was getting a bill through both chambers, giving leaders an opportunity to smooth things over.

But Inhofe spokesman Matt Dempsey said the senator was unsure about the Keystone provision, saying it would take "heavy lifting" to get it passed on the highway bill.

Boxer said that she was "not concerned" that Inhofe's statement would cause problems for a bipartisan Senate bill.

"Our bill is going forward the way it is," Boxer said. "I understand that he supports [the drilling language] -- that's fine. He has the right to support it."

The Senate's two-year transportation bill has a shortfall of between $12 billion and $13 billion. The Finance Committee has been tasked with finding a suite of offsets, and Democrats have said they expect those to be announced this week.

Reporter Elana Schor contributed.