II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5222 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to support upgrades at existing 

hydroelectric dams in order to increase clean energy production, improve 

the resiliency and reliability of the United States electric grid, enhance 

the health of the Nation’s rivers and associated wildlife habitats, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2022 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to support 

upgrades at existing hydroelectric dams in order to increase clean energy production, improve the resiliency 

and reliability of the United States electric grid, enhance 

the health of the Nation’s rivers and associated wildlife 

habitats, and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Maintaining and En3 hancing Hydroelectricity and River Restoration Act of 

4 2022’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING HY6 DROELECTRIC FACILITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart E of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986, as amended by section 13702 of Public Law 117– 

10 169, is amended by inserting after section 48E the fol11 lowing new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 48F. CREDIT FOR MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING HY13 DROELECTRIC FACILITIES. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 46, the 

15 credit for maintaining and enhancing hydroelectric facili16 ties for any taxable year is an amount equal to 30 percent 

17 of the basis of any hydropower improvement property 

18 placed in service during such taxable year. 

19 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN PROGRESS EXPENDITURE RULES

20 MADE APPLICABLE.—Rules similar to the rules of sub21 sections (c)(4) and (d) of section 46 (as in effect on the 

22 day before the date of the enactment of the Revenue Rec23 onciliation Act of 1990) shall apply for purposes of sub24 section (a). 


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1 ‘‘(c) HYDROPOWER IMPROVEMENT PROPERTY.—In 

2 this section, the term ‘hydropower improvement property’ 

3 means property— 

4 ‘‘(1) which— 

5 ‘‘(A) adds or improves fish passage at a 

6 qualified dam, 

7 ‘‘(B) maintains or improves the quality of 

8 the water retained or released by a qualified 

9 dam, 

10 ‘‘(C) promotes downstream sediment trans11 port processes and habitat maintenance with re12 spect to a qualified dam, 

13 ‘‘(D) upgrades, repairs, or reconstructs a 

14 qualified dam to meet Federal dam safety and 

15 security standards, 

16 ‘‘(E) improves the public uses of, and ac17 cess to, public waterways impacted by a quali18 fied dam in a manner consistent with a license 

19 issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Com20 mission or a settlement agreement reached with 

21 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

22 pursuant to such a license, 

23 ‘‘(F) removes an obsolete river obstruction, 

24 or 


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1 ‘‘(G) places into service an approved re2 mote dam, and 

3 ‘‘(2) for which, prior to January 1, 2032, the 

4 taxpayer receives written approval with respect to 

5 any property described in paragraph (1) from the 

6 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or State or 

7 local officials, as appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) APPROVED REMOTE DAM.—The term ‘ap10 proved remote dam’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) a hydroelectric dam which— 

12 ‘‘(i) exclusively services communities 

13 not interconnected to the Electric Reli14 ability Council of Texas, the Eastern Inter15 connection, or the Western Interconnec16 tion, 

17 ‘‘(ii) was licensed by the Federal En18 ergy Regulatory Commission before De19 cember 31, 2020, and 

20 ‘‘(iii) does not contribute to atmos21 phere pollution, and 

22 ‘‘(B) any qualified interconnection property 

23 (as defined in section 48(a)(8)(B)) associated 

24 with a dam described in subparagraph (A) 


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1 which has a maximum net output of not greater 

2 than 20 megawatts. 

3 ‘‘(2) FISH PASSAGE.—The term ‘fish passage’ 

4 means, with respect to any qualified dam, any new 

5 or upgraded turbine, fishway, or other fish passage 

6 technology which improves fish migration and sur7 vival rates. 

8 ‘‘(3) OBSOLETE RIVER OBSTRUCTION.—The 

9 term ‘obsolete river obstruction’ means a qualified 

10 nonpowered dam (as defined in section 34(e)(3) of 

11 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 823e(e)(3))) no 

12 longer serving its intended purpose. 

13 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED DAM.—The term ‘qualified 

14 dam’ means a hydroelectric dam that is licensed by 

15 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or le16 gally operating without such a license before the 

17 date of enactment of this section.’’. 

18 (b) ELECTIVE PAYMENT AND TRANSFER OF CRED19 IT.— 

20 (1) ELECTIVE PAYMENT.—Section 6417 of the 

21 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 

22 13801(a) of Public Law 117–169, is amended— 

23 (A) in subsection (b), by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(13) The credit for maintaining and enhancing 

2 hydroelectric facilities under section 48F.’’, and 

3 (B) in subsection (d)(1)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

5 ‘‘(C), or (D)’’ each place it appears and in6 serting ‘‘(C), (D), or (E)’’, 

7 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

8 (E) (as amended by clause (i)) as subpara9 graph (F), and 

10 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

11 (D) the following: 

12 ‘‘(E) ELECTION WITH RESPECT TO CREDIT

13 FOR MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING HYDRO14 ELECTRIC FACILITIES.—If a taxpayer other 

15 than an entity described in subparagraph (A) 

16 makes an election under this subparagraph with 

17 respect to any taxable year in which such tax18 payer has, after December 31, 2022, placed in 

19 service hydropower improvement property (as 

20 defined in section 48F(c)), such taxpayer shall 

21 be treated as an applicable entity for purposes 

22 of this section for such taxable year, but only 

23 with respect to the credit described in sub24 section (b)(13).’’. 


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1 (2) TRANSFER.—Section 6418(f)(1)(A) of the 

2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 

3 13801(b) of Public Law 117–169, is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(xii) The credit for maintaining and 

6 enhancing hydroelectric facilities under 

7 section 48F.’’. 

8 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (1) Section 46 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986, as amended by section 13702(b)(1) of Public 

11 Law 117–169, is amended— 

12 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

13 the end, 

14 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe15 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) the credit for maintaining and enhancing 

18 hydroelectric facilities.’’. 

19 (2) Section 49(a)(1)(C) of such Code, as 

20 amended by section 13702(b)(2) of Public Law 117– 

21 169, is amended— 

22 (A) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end, 

24 (B) in clause (viii), by striking the period 

25 at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(ix) the basis of any hydropower im3 provement property under section 48F.’’. 

4 (3) Section 50 of such Code is amended— 

5 (A) in subsection (a)(2)(E), as amended by 

6 section 13702(b) of Public Law 117–169, by 

7 striking ‘‘or 48E(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘48E(e), or 

8 48F(b)’’, and 

9 (B) in subsection (d)(2), as amended by 

10 section 13102(f)(5) of Public Law 117–169— 

11 (i) in the matter preceding subpara12 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or any hydro13 power improvement property (as defined in 

14 section 48F(c))’’ after ‘‘any energy storage 

15 technology (as defined in section 

16 48(c)(6))’’, and 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

18 ‘‘energy storage technology’’ each place it 

19 appears and inserting ‘‘energy storage 

20 technology or hydropower improvement 

21 property’’. 

22 (4) The table of sections for subpart E of part 

23 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code, as 

24 amended by section 13702(b)(5) of Public Law 117– 


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1 169, is amended by inserting after the item relating 

2 to section 48E the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 48F. Credit for maintaining and enhancing hydroelectric facilities.’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

5 December 31, 2022. 

Æ 


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