WASHINGTON – In addition to passing a continuing resolution to fund the government, Congress was busy this week with energy matters.

Yesterday, the Senate Banking Committee advanced legislation to end the crude oil export ban. The bill passed by a partisan vote of 13 to 9, with only Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) joining with Republicans to pass the measure. It is unlikely that this bill, which contains language that would compel Iran to compensate U.S. victims of Iranian-backed terrorism and is anathema to Democrats, will end up being the vehicle to lift the decades-old ban.

Certainly, both this bill and a related bill passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources on July 30 face a steep uphill battle to passage. The White House opposes legislation to lift the export ban, preferring to leave such policy decisions to the Department of Commerce. Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill to lift the ban on September 17 that is expected to go to the floor next week.

In other energy news, earlier this week the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup of legislation to modernize the nation’s energy policy. The legislation (H.R. 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015) was approved largely along party line votes by a vote of 32 in favor and 20 opposed. Three Democrats joined all committee Republicans in supporting the legislation.

The legislation aims to modernize the nation’s energy policy, by, among other things, modernizing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, updating federal energy efficiency standards, and updating infrastructure policy to streamline the permitting process and protect against 21st century threats to energy infrastructure such as cyber attacks. While Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) intended for the bill to remain bipartisan, a Manager’s Amendment added to the bill contained some provisions, including expedited regulatory requirements for LNG exports and the use of fossil fuel-generated energy in federal buildings, which Democrats opposed. In total, the committee considered 30 amendments with only a handful being accepted into the final bill.

Chairman Upton stated that he hopes to enact this legislation into law as soon as possible but it has not yet been determined if and when the legislation would reach the House floor. The Senate Energy Committee approved its version of similar legislation in late July, and like its House counterpart, it is unclear when that bill will be considered on the Senate floor.