“According to the CryoGas International, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have applauded the Senate’s passage of legislation that ensures continued access to the federal helium supply, prevents a shock to the health care sector and other critical industries that depend on helium. The bill then requires the federal government to phase out its involvement in the helium sector over the next 10 years. Wyden and Murkowski introduced the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, now the High Technology Jobs Preservation Act, in April to provide continued access to the Federal Helium Reserve, which would otherwise be required to close its doors the first week of October, when the program’s debt to the federal government would be repaid according to the Interior Department.

The bill prevents a shock to the market by allowing the Federal Helium Reserve to continue operating in three phases. In the first phase, the reserve operates as it is now under the current system through September 30, 2014. The bill ensures a smooth transition away from federal ownership by establishing an auction of 10 percent of the helium in the reserve, beginning in fiscal year 2015, with an additional 15 percentage points added to the auction every year. In the third phase, the reserve would continue to operate only to supply federal customers.”