The US Department of Transportation would face a January 15 deadline to issue its long-awaited crude-by-rail safety regulations, under a must-pass spending bill crafted by Republican and Democratic lawmakers from both chambers of Congress. The $1.1 trillion bill also would restrict the US Department of Energy from creating any crude product reserves without the consent of the congressional appropriations committees. In addition, it would block the US Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the greater sage grouse and three other grouse species as a threatened or endangered species for a year, opening up significant acreage in the Western US to oil and gas development. Those three measures are among several riders attached to the bill, which must pass to keep the federal government open past Thursday. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday, while the Senate is scheduled to […]