The House today easily cleared a $1 trillion spending package that would fund U.S. EPA, the Energy and Interior departments and other agencies for the rest of the fiscal year.

The package now moves to the Senate where it will likely pass this weekend, averting a government shutdown.

The measure passed on a 296-121 vote. Thirty-five Democrats -- including Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman of California, Natural Resources Committee ranking member Ed Markey of Massachusetts and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee ranking member Raúl Grijalva of Arizona -- voted against it. So did 86 Republicans, most of whom are far-right conservatives or running for higher office next year.

The measure's passage comes after a week of scrambling by House Republicans and Senate Democrats to reach a deal. The final package includes steep funding cuts for EPA and Interior, but it is largely free of many of the controversial GOP riders that threatened to derail discussions in recent days.

A notable exception is GOP-backed language that would block DOE from enforcing a set of light bulb efficiency standards that will take effect on Jan. 1.

Many conservatives are praising the language's inclusion in the final spending deal. "This is an early Christmas present for all Americans," said Texas Republican Joe Barton, who wrote stand-alone legislation earlier this year that would have abolished the standards. That measure failed in the House this summer (E&E Daily, July 13).

Tea party-backed Republicans and many conservative pundits and commentators have latched onto the light bulb issue this year as an example of government overreach.

"Allowing people freedom of choice on something as basic as a light bulb is a no-brainer," Barton said.

But advocates of the standards say they will provide consumers more choices -- not less. And they are decrying the provision's presence in the bill.

"If America is to have a rational energy policy, we need to make progress in efficiency. Blocking funds to enforce minimum standards works against our nation getting the full benefits of energy efficiency," Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said in a statement.

Bingaman, who wrote the original 2007 law that created the standards, and other advocates added that the provision will likely have little impact on bulb sales as most domestic bulb manufacturers will comply with the law and continue to produce the efficient lamps despite lack of enforcement (Greenwire, Dec. 16).

Another rider that survived cuts upset some environmental groups. The language from Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) would transfer EPA's air quality oversight for offshore drilling to Interior.

"There is no question that this Dirty Arctic Air rider -- snuck into a vital spending bill at the 11th hour -- is a clear giveaway to Shell and Big Oil," Cindy Shogan of the Alaska Wilderness League said in a statement.

Shogan called the rider a "poison pill" that will compromise the health of humans and wildlife because proposed drilling operations like Shell's will release thousands of tons of greenhouse gases and other pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

Shell has spent five years trying to explore for oil in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi seas but has been stifled by an inability to obtain air permits for its drill ships.

Murkowski said earlier this week that the measure was needed to provide regulatory certainty and "levels the playing field" with oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, where Interior already has most permitting authority (Greenwire, Dec. 15).

Interior today conditionally approved Shell's exploration plan for the Chukchi Sea, one of the areas that would be covered by the Murkowski language (see related story).

After the vote, Democrats who backed the bill noted that it was not perfect but said it could have been a lot worse.

California Rep. George Miller, the top Democrat on the House Education and the Work Force Committee, said his party was able to beat back Republican efforts on environmental issues.

"Democrats were able to remove nearly 100 repugnant and damaging public policy rollbacks that had nothing to do with funding services but everything to do with pressing the Republicans' extreme agenda against women, students, workers and the environment," Miller said. "We fought those extremist riders, and nearly every one of them was removed."

The nonprofit Environment America said the country escaped the "worst attacks" on public health in the spending bill.

"President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders deserve credit for protecting America's health and environment by keeping the most extreme anti-environmental measures out of this deal," said Nathan Willcox, the group's global warming program director.

Still, some key Democrats on environmental issues who have come to EPA's defense this year -- like Waxman, Markey and Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio -- voted against the measure, suggesting they objected to the significant funding cuts for the agency in the omnibus or riders that remained in the bill.