I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2396 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish the Coal Mitigation 

Trust Fund funded by the imposition of a tax on the extraction of 

coal, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 17, 2013 

Mr. MCDERMOTT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish 

the Coal Mitigation Trust Fund funded by the imposition 

of a tax on the extraction of coal, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘True Cost of Coal Act 

5 of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. COAL MITIGATION TRUST FUND. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 9512. COAL MITIGATION TRUST FUND. 

6 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab7 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

8 to be known as the ‘Coal Mitigation Trust Fund’, con9 sisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or cred10 ited to such fund as provided in this section or section 

11 9602(b). 

12 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.—There are here13 by appropriated to the Coal Mitigation Trust Fund 

14 amounts equivalent to the taxes received in the Treasury 

15 under section 4122 (relating to excise tax on coal extrac16 tion). 

17 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro19 vided in this subsection, amounts in the Coal Mitiga20 tion Trust Fund shall be available, as provided by 

21 appropriation Acts, to eligible States for mitigation 

22 of the following in connection with the transpor23 tation of coal by rail: noise, vibration, traffic delays, 

24 pollution and other threats to public health, and 

25 emergencies. Such amounts shall also be so available 

26 for related worker adjustment assistance. Any 

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1 amounts made available to an eligible State under 

2 this paragraph shall remain available until expended 

3 for a purpose described in this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION AMONG STATES.—Any 

5 amounts made available under paragraph (1) shall 

6 be made available to the eligible States in an amount 

7 which bears the same ratio to the population of such 

8 State as the aggregate amount made available bears 

9 to the aggregate populations of all the eligible 

10 States. 

11 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE STATES.—For purposes of this 

12 subsection, the term ‘eligible State’ means any State 

13 in which not less than 2,500,000 tons of coal per 

14 year is transported by rail. 

15 ‘‘(4) AMOUNTS MADE AVAILABLE NOT TO OFF16 SET REQUIRED EXPENDITURES.—Amounts made 

17 available under paragraph (1) shall not be used di18 rectly or indirectly for any expense which any pro19 ducer or transporter of coal is legally required to 

20 provide.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

22 for subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal Revenue 

23 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 9512. Coal Mitigation Trust Fund.’’. 

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1 SEC. 3. EXCISE TAX ON COAL EXTRACTION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter B of chapter 32 of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 4122. EXCISE TAX ON COAL EXTRACTION. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby imposed on the 

7 extraction of coal in the United States a tax equal to $10 

8 per ton. 

9 ‘‘(b) CROSS REFERENCE.—For definitions of ‘United 

10 States’ and ‘ton’, see section 4121(c).’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 for subchapter B of chapter 32 of such Code is amended 

13 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 4122. Excise tax on coal extraction.’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply to coal extracted after the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF RECOVERY PERIOD FOR SPECIFIED 

18 COAL PORT PROPERTY. 

19 (a) 50-YEAR RECOVERY PERIOD FOR SPECIFIED

20 COAL PORTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The table contained in sec22 tion 168(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

23 amended by striking the last row and inserting the 

24 following: 

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‘‘Any railroad grading, tunnel bore, or specified coal 

port property ......................................................... 50 years’’. 

1 (2) ALTERNATIVE DEPRECIATION SYSTEM.— 

2 The table contained in section 168(g)(2)(C) of such 

3 Code is amended by striking ‘‘or water utility prop4 erty’’ and inserting ‘‘, water utility property, or 

5 specified coal port property’’. 

6 (b) SPECIFIED COAL PORT PROPERTY.—Subsection 

7 (e) of section 168 of such Code is amended by adding at 

8 the end the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(9) SPECIFIED COAL PORT PROPERTY.—The 

10 term ‘specified coal port property’ means any prop11 erty which is part of a port (including any wharfs, 

12 stockyards, or conveyers) if— 

13 ‘‘(A) it is reasonably anticipated at the 

14 time that such property is placed in service that 

15 such port will be used for the export of coal, 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) such port (after such property and 

18 any related property is placed in service) would 

19 have the capacity to export more than 

20 1,000,000 tons of coal annually.’’. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

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1 SEC. 5. COVERING COAL CARS. 

2 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 of 

3 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘§ 20168. Covering coal cars. 

6 ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation shall issue regula7 tions to require all rail cars transporting coal to be covered 

8 or to incorporate a suitable alternative technology that en9 sures that coal and coal dust do not escape the rail car 

10 or are treated to significantly reduce or eliminate the re11 lease of coal dust or other particulate matter during trans12 portation.’’. 

13 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

14 subchapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, United States 

15 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘20168. Covering coal cars.’’. 

Æ 

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