Important Committee Vote Scheduled on Helium Reserve Bill
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is scheduled to vote next Wednesday, May 22, on a matter upon which The American Physical Society has taken a strong position. At issue is the disposition of the nation’s helium reserve.
The committee action will follow a vote that was taken in the House on April 30 to pass H.R. 3008, the Helium Privatization Act of 1996. This bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of 32 billion cubic feet of helium stored on federal lands.
The APS is concerned that privatization of the helium reserve will make future supplies of the gas vulnerable. In a statement issued on November 19, 1995, the Council of The American Physical Society stated:
“The American Physical Society is profoundly concerned about the potential loss of the nation’s accumulated helium reserves. Helium is essential for achieving the extremely cold temperatures required by many current and emerging technologies as well as for advanced scientific research. The overall demand for helium has been steadily increasing, and there is every reason to believe that this trend will continue.
“Although the United States is fortunate in having a greater abundance of this critical element than any other nation, the supply has severe natural limits. Helium is obtained by extraction from natural gas. If not extracted, the helium is irretrievably lost to the atmosphere when the gas is burned. For this reason, the federal government prudently established a storage program for helium, but legislation now being considered would dispose of virtually this entire helium store within two decades.
“In view of the importance of this unique and irreplaceable natural resource to modern science and technology, The American Physical Society urges that measures be adopted that will both conserve and enhance the nation’s helium reserves. Failure to do so would not only be wasteful, but would be economically and technologically shortsighted.”
During House consideration of H.R. 3008, the concerns expressed by APS were cited. However, on a vote of 411-10, the House passed the bill and sent it to the Senate.
Attention is now focused by APS on an amendment which Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA) will offer to his subcommittee colleagues when they consider this bill next Wednesday. Under this amendment, reports APS, the reserve could not be sold until the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the National Academy of Sciences, determines that disposal of the reserve would not have an adverse effect on U.S. scientific and technical interests.
