March 29, 2007 - 2:24 p.m.

A Senate committee today approved legislation to require 8,000 federal facilities to reduce their energy consumption by retrofitting and using more efficient technologies.

The Environment and Public Works Committee gave voice-vote approval to the bipartisan bill (S 992) that would give the General Services Administration five years to implement more efficient lighting, heating and cooling systems, insulation and other energy-cutting practices in government buildings.

The plan also would authorize a $20 million a year Environmental Protection Agency program to provide counties and municipalities with matching grants of as much as $1 million for taking steps to reduce energy use.

The panel adopted two amendments by Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., to waive the cost-share requirements for financially distressed communities receiving grants and to create a committee within the federal government to coordinate recommendations on conservation measures.

Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a cosponsor of the plan, characterized the bill as the committee's first response to cutting greenhouse gas emissions that scientists blame for global warming.