WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today said a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives late Wednesday creates real opportunities for a U.S. Senate-House conference committee to pass the Keystone XL pipeline bill, and also legislation he sponsored to recycle coal ash, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act. 

Hoeven said the coal recycling measure is a good fit for the transportation bill because coal residuals are recycled and used as a construction material to build roads, helping to bring down highway construction costs. The measure has bipartisan support and the support of the traditional energy industry. Renewable energy interests should support the legislation, as well, because it is about recycling and good environmental stewardship, he said. 

The Keystone XL measure would approve the pipeline project. Further advancing the pipeline project Wednesday, TransCanada Corp., the company building the Keystone XL pipeline, submitted a new application to Nebraska officials laying out a new route around the Sandhills region of the state, the only part of the pipeline’s path of concern. 

“These are two strong infrastructure measures that will create jobs and strengthen our economy with good environmental stewardship,” Hoeven said. “Moving forward, the Senate and the House need to come together in conference committee and pass the Senate bill with these provisions.”