By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff

Majority Leader Harry Reid has offered Senate Republicans an enticing shot at scoring political points by agreeing to allow a vote on an amendment to delay and soften proposed emissions standards for industrial boilers and incinerators.

The amendment to the two-year, $109 billion surface transportation reauthorization (S 1813) is the latest in a series of politically charged amendments that conservatives and liberals have been trying to attach to just about any bill moving in the Senate.

The trend has not abated even after it came to a head last October, when Reid, D-Nev., used a variation of the so-called nuclear option to bring to an end consideration of non-germane amendments after cloture had been invoked. Now, proponents are simply offering such amendments as the Senate begins debating a measure.

The commercial boiler and incinerator amendment by Susan Collins, R-Maine, offers a sure sign that Senate leaders will increasingly face efforts to win votes on unrelated amendments as both parties prepare for this fall’s elections.

In fact, Collins’ amendment is virtually the same provision that was included in the House-passed version of a bill (HR 3630) to extend a payroll tax cut. But it was scratched from the final version that went on to become law (PL 112-96).

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., said Democratic leaders would allow a vote on Collins’ proposal to help clear the way for a bigger trophy: Senate passage of the two-year highway reauthorization.

It remains unclear whether the Democrats’ willingness to allow the vote signals that they are confident it can be defeated, or that the bipartisan group of proponents has made it clear that it has the 60 votes needed to avert a filibuster and thus approve the amendment.

Senate Democratic leaders also have signaled that they will allow a vote, expected to fall along party lines, on another Republican priority: a proposal by John Hoeven, R-N.D., that would require the federal government to approve a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline project that would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

A short-term extension of surface transportation programs (PL 112-30) expires March 31, and Reid has offered the two votes in hopes of reaching a deal to limit debate and complete action on the reauthorization bill.

The Collins amendment would delay implementation of the proposed rules for 15 months, and would soften the effect of the effort to limit emissions from boilers and incinerators that are a major source of mercury and soot emissions. Businesses have opposed the rules, which would require many to retrofit or replace boilers and incinerators to ensure they have up-to-date emissions control technology and comply with the Clean Air Act (PL 101-549).

Reid has scheduled a Tuesday cloture vote on a substitute amendment to the highway bill, even as Senate leaders are trying to cut a deal to limit votes on non-germane amendments before the procedural vote, aides from both parties said.

The Obama administration has threatened to veto the proposal, saying it would “undermine public health protections.”

Despite that, Collins has already lined up 41 cosponsors, including 12 Democrats, for her similar measure (S 1392).