Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., previously pushed through a moratorium on the Interior Department proceeding with a program to lease federal properties for extracting oil shale, but he said Wednesday that restriction could be dropped in favor of Matheson's proposal.

Matheson's provision, included in an energy bill that passed the House on Tuesday night, would allow Utah, Colorado or Wyoming to pass laws opening up fields of oil shale, which supporters say is a vast domestic source of energy.

"I am satisfied that the language in the House, in concept, provides us the safety valve that we need for the state of Colorado," Salazar told reporters in a conference call.

The Senate is expected to take up its own energy bill this week, though it is unclear yet how it will affect potential oil shale leases in the Western states. Salazar's support on the Matheson language could be crucial to Congress acting to allow the energy resource to be tapped.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and other state leaders have generally backed the idea of developing oil shale in the Uinta Basin, while the governors of Colorado and Wyoming have expressed skepticism about rushing forward with the potentially environmentally disastrous process. Critics say the technology and science is lacking to actually produce synthetic oil from oil shale and could destroy federally protected lands.

Oil shale is actually a sedimentary rock that when heated produces a mixture of chemical compounds called kerogen, which can be processed into jet and diesel fuel. The process, however, is costly and so far has not been commercially feasible.

Matheson, though, said Salazar's comments are great news for Utah and the West in moving forward on oil shale production.

"This would be huge to get support on the Senate side as well," Matheson said. "We don't have a lot of time this year to get this issue moving and to have someone from one of the other oil shale states stand up and say I'm interested in moving this kind of language, that's just super."

Salazar told reporters that he will review Matheson's language to make sure it allows a state to decide its own "destiny" regarding oil shale, but that he likes the idea of local officials making the decision.

"The basic concept that allows a state to make the decision on the future of oil shale is something that I'm comfortable with because, at the end of the day, I think that the people of the state of Colorado are the ones who ultimately will derive both the benefits and the detriments of oil shale development," Salazar said.

tburr@sltrib.com