GILLETTE - As federal land managers prepare to apply a regulatory patch to avoid disputes when coal mines approach coalbed methane leases, Sen. Mike Enzi is renewing his effort to pass a law with the same stated goal.

Mike Karbs of the BLM Casper Field Office said the Bureau of Land Management's new conflict resolution plan is a practical solution to a six-year-long conflict over who has to give way when coalbed methane gas companies hold senior lease rights in the paths of progressing coal mines in the Powder River Basin. (Please see related story on B1.)

However, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said the BLM's efforts to allay the conflicts may not be enough, and new legislation would provide a more "permanent" solution.

The legislation he is supporting is anything but new, however. Enzi said this week he is looking for opportunities to re-introduce the Powder River Basin Resource Development Act, a five-year-old piece of legislation Enzi said he promised years ago to his coal constituents back in his hometown of Gillette.

The bill would give coal preference for first development in the event a coal mine and coalbed methane gas developer fail to coordinate their production activities or fail to make a financial settlement.

So far, the existing potential for conflict has not resulted in any delay of federal coal development in the basin, according to Nancy Doelger of the BLM Casper Field Office. But Enzi and coal producers feel a fix should be written into law anyway.

"The need for passing the Powder River Basin Resources Act has not gone away," said Enzi spokesman Coy Knobel. "If anything, the conflict that created this legislation has the potential of again having a significant impact on energy development as the next round of coal leases are processed for the Powder River Basin's coal reserves."

The BLM is preparing to issue Records of Decision on five new federal coal tracts covering nearly 16,000 acres in the southern portion of the basin. Formal protests against the lease offerings cannot be filed until the RODs are issued, said Doelger.

However, the BLM has received some letters from coalbed methane gas companies expressing concerns about resource conflicts, she said. (Please see related story, page A12.)

Opponents have described the bill as quid pro quo legislation, noting that the Powder River Basin coal industry had threatened to sink another bill Enzi was working to pass for coalbed methane producers in 1998.

Enzi convinced the coal companies to back off the bill by promising a separate bill to deal with coal and gas conflicts. And Enzi makes no bones about that.

"Another reason I continue to pursue this bill is due to the cooperation of the coal companies in 1998," Enzi said recently.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals had declared that coalbed methane was a part of the coal estate rather than the oil and gas estate, which would have given nearly all of the Powder River Basin coalbed methane resource to the federal government.

The industry was eager to get a start on private and state leases, and the royalty holders were eager to oblige.

They turned to Enzi, and he was able get legislation in place that exempted them from the court ruling.

"The coal companies could have easily derailed the bill," Enzi said. "They needed only to find one House or Senate member to object because the only way we could have passed the legislation in such a short time was by unanimous consent."

Then came time to make good on his promise to the coal industry.

"The Powder River Basin Resource Development Act is a way to ensure both property rights are protected and a fair value assigned to both coal and gas. I want to ensure the long-term development of both resources," Enzi said.

His staff drove home the point that Wyoming's senator prefers a "permanent" solution through new legislation.

"Administration fixes are good, but they can change with administrations. If you need a more permanent solution, then you go with legislation," Knobel said.

Coal officials say the BLM's new "Policy and Guidance" to entice quicker development of CBM fields in the paths of coal mines is a "step in the right direction." But they are pleased that Enzi hasn't given up his fight for a legislative fix.

"We believe the best solution to any potential conflicts that would arise in the future would be legislatively prescribed," said Peter Fox, spokesman for Kennecott Energy, one of the first supporters of the bill.

Enzi first introduced the bill in 1999 as S. 1950, the Powder River Basin Resource Development Act. But it failed to make it to the Senate floor.

In 2001, Cubin was chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and introduced the bill as HR 2952. But in a move far less supportive of the bill, Cubin said this week that she supports the BLM's administrative approach rather than legislation.

"She doesn't have any plans right now to re-introduce that legislation," Cubin's press secretary Joe Milczewski said Thursday.

"She always believed this is something that ought to be handled by the BLM."