I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4735 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit for certain 

facilities that remediate and reclaim coal refuse sites in the United 

States by producing electricity from coal refuse. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2019 

Mr. MEUSER (for himself and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 

credit for certain facilities that remediate and reclaim 

coal refuse sites in the United States by producing electricity from coal refuse. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mine Affected Commu5 nity Energy and Environment Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR COAL REFUSE USED TO PRODUCE 

2 ELECTRICITY AT CERTAIN FACILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 45(e) of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(12) COAL REFUSE FACILITIES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF CREDIT

8 AMOUNT.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The credit deter10 mined under this section (without regard 

11 to this subparagraph) for any taxable year 

12 shall be an amount equal to the product 

13 of— 

14 ‘‘(I) $12.50, multiplied by 

15 ‘‘(II) the tons of coal refuse used 

16 at a coal refuse facility to produce 

17 electricity at such facility during the 

18 10-year period beginning on January 

19 1, 2019. 

20 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—Other than coal 

21 refuse removed from sites that are subject 

22 to the current remediation and reclamation 

23 activities of a coal refuse facility, coal 

24 refuse generated from sites where coal is 

25 mined after the effective date of this legisVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Oct 23, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4735.IH H4735

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1 lation is excluded from the determination 

2 of the credit amount in this section. 

3 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—For purposes 

4 of this subsection, the term ‘eligible recipient’ 

5 means, with respect to a coal refuse facility for 

6 a taxable year, a taxpayer who, for each ton of 

7 eligible coal refuse described in subparagraph 

8 (A) for such taxpayer for the previous taxable 

9 year, contributed $0.50 to the State in which 

10 such facility is located for restoring riparian 

11 buffers within the communities where the coal 

12 refuse is being removed or consumed, or in 

13 communities located downstream of that activ14 ity, for the purpose of improving water quality 

15 downstream of the communities affected by 

16 such coal refuse and reducing carbon emissions 

17 in such communities. 

18 ‘‘(C) CREDIT ELIGIBILITY.—In the case of 

19 a facility described in subparagraph (A), if the 

20 owner of such facility is not the producer of the 

21 electricity, the person eligible for the credit de22 termined under subparagraph (A) shall be the 

23 lessee or the operator of such facility. 

24 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION OF RULES.—Rules 

25 similar to the rules of paragraphs (1), (3), and 


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1 (5) of this subsection shall apply for purposes 

2 of determining the amount of any increase 

3 under this paragraph.’’. 

4 (b) COAL REFUSE FACILITY DEFINED.—Section 

5 45(d) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(12) COAL REFUSE FACILITY.—In the case of 

8 a facility using coal refuse to produce electricity, the 

9 term ‘coal refuse facility’ means any facility— 

10 ‘‘(A) which was originally placed in service 

11 prior to January 1, 2019, and combusts coal 

12 refuse or fuel composed of at least 75 percent 

13 coal refuse by BTU energy value, and 

14 ‘‘(B) uses— 

15 ‘‘(i) at a minimum, a circulating fluid16 ized bed combustion unit or a pressurized 

17 fluidized bed combustion unit, equipped 

18 with a limestone injection system for con19 trol of acid gases, and 

20 ‘‘(ii) a fabric filter particulate emis21 sion control system.’’. 

22 (c) COAL REFUSE.—Section 45(c) of such Code is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following new para24 graph: 


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1 ‘‘(11) COAL REFUSE.—The term ‘coal refuse’ 

2 means any waste coal, rock, shale, slurry, culm, gob, 

3 boney, slate, clay, and related materials associated 

4 with or near a coal seam that are either brought 

5 aboveground or otherwise removed from a coal mine 

6 in the process of mining coal or that are separated 

7 from coal during the cleaning or preparation oper8 ations. Such term includes underground development 

9 wastes, coal processing wastes and excess spoil, but 

10 does not include overburden from surface mining ac11 tivities.’’. 

12 (d) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT AGAINST ALTERNATIVE

13 MINIMUM TAX.—Section 38(c)(4)(B)(v) of such Code is 

14 amended by inserting ‘‘or section 45(e)(12) (relating to 

15 coal refuse facilities)’’ before the comma at the end. 

16 (e) CREDIT REFUNDABLE.—For purposes of this 

17 title, the credit allowed by reason of this section shall be 

18 treated as a credit allowed under subpart C (and not this 

19 subpart). 

20 (f) PASSIVE ACTIVITY LOSSES.—Section 469(d) of 

21 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

22 to section 469(d)(2)(A)(ii) (other than section 27 ‘‘and 

23 section 45(e)(12))’’. 


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1 (g) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

2 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by— 

4 (1) striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph 

5 (31); 

6 (2) striking the period at the end of paragraph 

7 (32) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’; and 

8 (3) adding at the end the following new para9 graph: 

10 ‘‘(33) the coal refuse facility credit determined 

11 under section 45(e)(12).’’. 

12 (h) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF CREDIT.—Subchapter B 

13 of chapter 65 of such Code is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 6433. ELECTIVE PAYMENT FOR COAL REFUSE FACILI16 TIES. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person electing the applica18 tion of this section with respect to any eligible coal refuse 

19 facility shall be treated as making a payment against the 

20 tax imposed by subtitle A for the taxable year equal to 

21 the amount of the credit that would be determined under 

22 section 45(e)(12) for such facility for such year. Except 

23 as provided in subsection (b), such payment shall be treat24 ed as made on the later of the due date of the return of 

25 such tax or the date on which such return is filed. 


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1 ‘‘(b) QUARTERLY ELECTION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the close of any quarter 

3 of the taxable year of any taxpayer entitled to a 

4 credit with respect to an eligible coal refuse facility, 

5 if a claim is filed under this section, the Secretary 

6 shall pay (without interest) an amount equal to the 

7 credit determined under section 45 for such quarter, 

8 calculated as if such credit were determined on a 

9 quarterly basis. 

10 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR FILING CLAIM.—No claim filed 

11 under this subsection (b) shall be allowed unless 

12 filed during the first quarter following the last quar13 ter included in the claim. 

14 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT OF CLAIM.—Notwithstanding 

15 paragraph (1) of this subsection, if the Secretary 

16 has not paid pursuant to a claim filed under this 

17 section within 45 days of the date of the filing of 

18 such claim (20 days in the case of an electronic 

19 claim), the claim shall be paid with interest from 

20 such date determined by using the overpayment rate 

21 and method under section 6621. 

22 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES FOR PARTNERSHIPS AND S 

23 CORPORATIONS.—In the case of an eligible coal refuse fa24 cility owned or used by a partnership or an S corpora25 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the elections under subsection (a) or (b) 

2 may be made only by such partnership or S corpora3 tion, 

4 ‘‘(2) such partnership or S corporation shall be 

5 treated as making the payment referred to in sub6 section (a) only to the extent of the proportionate 

7 share of such partnership or S corporation as is 

8 owned by persons who would be treated as making 

9 such payment if the property were owned or used by 

10 such persons, and 

11 ‘‘(3) the return required to be made by such 

12 partnership or S corporation under section 6031 or 

13 6037 (as the case may be) shall be treated as a re14 turn of tax for purposes of subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH PRODUCTION CREDITS.— 

16 In the case of any eligible coal refuse facility with respect 

17 to which an election is made under subsection (a) or (b), 

18 no credit shall be determined under section 45 with re19 spect to such facility for the taxable year in which such 

20 election is made. 

21 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE COAL REFUSE FACILITY.—The term 

22 ‘eligible coal refuse facility’ means a facility eligible for 

23 a credit during the taxable year pursuant to section 

24 45(d)(12). 


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1 ‘‘(f) EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME.—Any credit 

2 or refund allowed or made by reason of this section shall 

3 not be includible in gross income or alternative minimum 

4 taxable income. 

5 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may by regula6 tions prescribe the conditions, not inconsistent with the 

7 provisions of this section, under which payments may be 

8 made under this section.’’. 

9 (i) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall apply to coal refuse used to produce elec11 tricity after December 31, 2018, in taxable years begin12 ning after such date. 

Æ 


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