I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 184 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a business credit 

relating to the use of clean-fuel and fuel efficient vehicles by businesses 

within areas designated as nonattainment areas under the Clean Air 

Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. SERRANO 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 provide 

a business credit relating to the use of clean-fuel and 

fuel efficient vehicles by businesses within areas designated as nonattainment areas under the Clean Air 

Act. 

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 ‘‘Clean Vehicles for 

5 Cleaner Air Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLEAN-FUEL CREDIT WITH RESPECT TO BUSI2 NESSES LOCATED IN NONATTAINMENT 

3 AREAS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 45R. CLEAN-FUEL CREDIT WITH RESPECT TO BUSI9 NESSES LOCATED IN NONATTAINMENT 

10 AREAS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, in 

12 the case of an eligible business the clean-fuel credit deter13 mined under this section for the taxable year is the sum 

14 of— 

15 ‘‘(1) the clean-fuel property credit, plus 

16 ‘‘(2) the clean-burning fuel use credit. 

17 ‘‘(b) CLEAN-FUEL PROPERTY CREDIT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The clean-fuel property 

19 credit is the sum of— 

20 ‘‘(A) qualified vehicle property costs, plus 

21 ‘‘(B) qualified refueling property costs. 

22 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED VEHICLE PROPERTY COSTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para24 graph (1), the term ‘qualified vehicle property 

25 costs’ means the amount paid or incurred by 

26 the eligible business for qualified clean-fuel veVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:12 Jan 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H184.IH H184

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1 hicle property which is placed in service during 

2 the taxable year by the eligible business and 

3 substantially all of the use of which is in a non4 attainment area. 

5 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The amount which 

6 may be taken into account under subparagraph 

7 (A) with respect to any motor vehicle shall not 

8 exceed— 

9 ‘‘(i) $4,000 in the case of a motor ve10 hicle not described in clause (ii) or (iii), 

11 ‘‘(ii) $10,000 in the case of any truck 

12 or van with a gross vehicle weight rating 

13 greater than 10,000 pounds but not great14 er than 26,000 pounds, or 

15 ‘‘(iii) $80,000 in the case of— 

16 ‘‘(I) a truck or van with a gross 

17 vehicle weight rating greater than 

18 26,000 pounds, or 

19 ‘‘(II) any bus which has a seating 

20 capacity of at least 20 adults (not in21 cluding the driver). 

22 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED CLEAN-FUEL VEHICLE

23 PROPERTY.—The term ‘qualified clean-fuel ve24 hicle property’ shall have the meaning given to 

25 such term by section 179A(c) (without regard 


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1 to paragraph (3) thereof), except that such 

2 term does not include property that is a motor 

3 vehicle propelled by a fuel that is not a clean4 burning fuel. 

5 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED REFUELING PROPERTY

6 COSTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para8 graph (1), the term ‘qualified refueling property 

9 costs’ means amounts paid or incurred by the 

10 eligible business for qualified clean-fuel vehicle 

11 refueling property (as defined by section 

12 179A(d)) which is placed in service in a non13 attainment area during the taxable year by the 

14 eligible business. 

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate 

17 cost which may be taken into account 

18 under subparagraph (A) with respect to 

19 qualified clean-fuel vehicle refueling prop20 erty placed in service by the eligible busi21 ness during the taxable year at a location 

22 shall not exceed the lesser of— 

23 ‘‘(I) $150,000, or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the cost of such property 

2 reduced by the amount described in 

3 clause (ii). 

4 ‘‘(ii) REDUCTION FOR AMOUNTS PRE5 VIOUSLY TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—For pur6 poses of clause (i)(II), the amount de7 scribed in this clause is the sum of— 

8 ‘‘(I) the aggregate amount taken 

9 into account under paragraph (1)(B) 

10 for all preceding taxable years, and 

11 ‘‘(II) the aggregate amount taken 

12 into account under section 

13 179A(a)(1)(B) by the taxpayer (or 

14 any related person or predecessor) 

15 with respect to property placed in 

16 service at such location for all pre17 ceding taxable years. 

18 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes 

19 of this subparagraph, the provisions of 

20 subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 

21 179A(b)(2) shall apply. 

22 ‘‘(c) CLEAN-BURNING FUEL USE CREDIT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

24 (a), the clean-burning fuel use credit is the amount 

25 equal to 50 cents for each gasoline gallon equivalent 


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1 of clean-burning fuel used by an eligible business 

2 during the taxable year to propel qualified clean-fuel 

3 vehicle property. 

4 ‘‘(2) CLEAN-BURNING FUEL.—For purposes of 

5 paragraph (1), the term ‘clean-burning fuel’ has the 

6 meaning given to such term by section 179A, except 

7 that such term includes compressed natural gas and 

8 biodiesel (as defined by section 40A(d)(1)). 

9 ‘‘(3) GASOLINE GALLON EQUIVALENT.—For 

10 purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘gasoline gallon 

11 equivalent’ means, with respect to any clean burning 

12 fuel, the amount (determined by the Secretary) of 

13 such fuel having a Btu content of 114,000. 

14 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

15 section— 

16 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE BUSINESS.—The term ‘eligible 

17 business’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) a qualified business entity or a quali19 fied proprietorship (as such terms are defined 

20 by section 1397C, determined by substituting 

21 ‘nonattainment area’ for ‘empowerment zone’ 

22 and ‘enterprise zone’ each place it appears), 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) a trade or business located outside of 

25 a nonattainment area, but only with respect to 


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1 qualified clean-fuel vehicle property used sub2 stantially within a nonattainment area. 

3 ‘‘(2) NONATTAINMENT AREA.—The term ‘non4 attainment area’ shall have the meaning given to 

5 such term by section 171 of the Clean Air Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 7501). 

7 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Except as pro8 vided in section 30B(i), no credit shall be allowed under 

9 subsection (a) for any expense for which a deduction or 

10 credit is allowed under any other provision of this chapter. 

11 ‘‘(f) RECAPTURE.—The Secretary shall, by regula12 tions, provide for recapturing the benefit under any credit 

13 allowable under subsection (a) with respect to any prop14 erty substantially all of the use of which is not in a non15 attainment area.’’. 

16 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

17 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code (re18 lating to current year business credit) is amended by strik19 ing ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (34), by striking the 

20 period at the end of paragraph (35) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, 

21 and by adding at the end thereof the following new para22 graph: 

23 ‘‘(36) the clean-fuel credit determined under 

24 section 45R.’’. 


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1 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 280C of 

2 such Code (relating to certain expenses for which credits 

3 are allowable) is amended by adding at the end thereof 

4 the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(g) ZONE CLEAN FUELS EXPENSES.—No deduction 

6 shall be allowed for that portion of expenses for clean7 burning fuel otherwise allowable as a deduction for the 

8 taxable year which is equal to the amount of the credit 

9 determined for such taxable year under section 45R.’’. 

10 (d) CREDIT ALLOWED AGAINST REGULAR AND MIN11 IMUM TAX.—Subparagraph (B) of section 38(c)(4) of 

12 such Code (relating to specified credits) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (vii), by striking the 

14 period at the end of clause (viii) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, 

15 and by inserting after clause (viii) the following: 

16 ‘‘(ix) the credit determined under sec17 tion 45R.’’. 

18 (e) DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN UNUSED BUSINESS

19 CREDITS.—Subsection (c) of section 196 of such Code is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (12), 

21 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (13) and 

22 inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding after paragraph (13) the 

23 following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(14) the clean fuels credit determined under 

25 section 45R.’’. 


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1 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

3 1 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item 

4 relating to section 45Q the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45R. Clean-fuel credit with respect to businesses located in nonattainment areas.’’. 

5 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

7 December 31, 2008. 

8 SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR HYBRID VEHICLES PLACED IN SERV9 ICE IN NONATTAINMENT AREAS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30B of the Internal Rev11 enue Code of 1986 (relating to alternative motor vehicle 

12 credit) is amended by redesignating subsections (i) and 

13 (j) as subsections (j) and (k), respectively, and by insert14 ing after subsection (h) the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(i) CERTAIN VEHICLES PLACED IN SERVICE IN

16 NONATTAINMENT AREAS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a new quali18 fied hybrid motor vehicle (as defined in subsection 

19 (d)) placed in service by an eligible business and 

20 substantially all of the use of which is in a non21 attainment area, in lieu of the credit allowed under 

22 subsection (a)(3) there shall be allowed as a credit 

23 against the tax imposed by this chapter for the tax24 able year an amount equal to 200 percent of the 


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1 amount otherwise determined under this section 

2 (without regard to this subsection and subsection 

3 (d)(2)(A)(ii)) with respect to such vehicle. 

4 ‘‘(2) RECAPTURE.—The Secretary shall, by reg5 ulations, provide for recapturing the benefit under 

6 any credit allowable under subsection (a) by reason 

7 of paragraph (1) of this subsection with respect to 

8 any property substantially all of the use of which is 

9 not in a nonattainment area. 

10 ‘‘(3) PHASEOUT NOT TO APPLY.—For purposes 

11 of this subsection, subsection (f) shall not apply. 

12 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub13 section, the terms ‘eligible business’ and ‘nonattain14 ment area’ have the meanings given such terms by 

15 section 45R(d).’’. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

18 December 31, 2008. 

Æ 


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