I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1888 

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

income tax to vehicle fleet operators for purchasing tires made from 

recycled rubber. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, 

Mr. KAGEN, and Mr. PERLMUTTER) 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 against income tax to vehicle fleet operators for 

purchasing tires made from recycled rubber. 

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 ‘‘Tire Investment, Re5 covery and Extension Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘TIRE Act of 

6 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 (1) The majority of rubber used by industry in 

3 the United States is synthetic rubber that has been 

4 derived from petroleum. 

5 (2) The tire industry is the largest consumer of 

6 rubber in the United States, using over 3 billion 

7 pounds of rubber annually to produce over 250 mil8 lion tires. 

9 (3) Recycled rubber from scrap tires can be 

10 used in the production of new tires at loadings ex11 ceeding 10 percent of the weight of rubber in the 

12 tire if the particle size of the recycled rubber is ex13 tremely fine (80 mesh/177 microns or finer) and the 

14 particles are free from impurities such as steel and 

15 fiber. 

16 (4) On average, the United States can save a 

17 gallon of oil for every tire produced incorporating 10 

18 percent recycled rubber. 

19 (5) On average, for every pound of recycled 

20 rubber used as an alternative to synthetic rubber, 

21 the United States will prevent a pound of carbon di22 oxide from being released into the atmosphere. 

23 (6) An independent study has determined that 

24 air permeability in a standard tire can be reduced by 

25 up to 50 percent when using recycled content. If re26 cycled content is used in every passenger car in the 


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1 United States, it would result in a fuel savings of up 

2 to 750 million gallons per year. 

3 SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR PURCHASES BY VEHICLE FLEET OPER4 ATORS OF TIRES MADE FROM RECYCLED 

5 RUBBER. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 (relating to business related credits) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 45R. PURCHASES BY VEHICLE FLEET OPERATORS OF 

11 TIRES MADE FROM RECYCLED RUBBER. 

12 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—For purposes of sec13 tion 38, in the case of an eligible taxpayer, the recycled 

14 rubber tire credit determined under this section is $3 for 

15 each qualified tire purchased by the taxpayer during the 

16 taxable year for use on a highway motor vehicle used in 

17 a trade or business of the taxpayer. 

18 ‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The credit determined 

20 under this section for any taxable year shall not ex21 ceed— 

22 ‘‘(A) $10,000,000 in the case of taxable 

23 years ending during the first year beginning 

24 after the date of the enactment of this section, 


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1 ‘‘(B) $15,000,000 in the case of taxable 

2 years ending during the 2nd such year, 

3 ‘‘(C) $25,000,000 in the case of taxable 

4 years ending during the 3rd, 4th, or 5th such 

5 year, and 

6 ‘‘(D) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

7 zero thereafter. 

8 ‘‘(2) CARRYOVER OF UNUSED LIMITATION.—If 

9 the limitation under this subsection for any taxable 

10 year (after the application of this paragraph) ex11 ceeds the credit determined under this section for 

12 such year, such limitation for the succeeding taxable 

13 year shall be increased by the amount of such ex14 cess. No amount may be carried under the preceding 

15 sentence to any taxable year ending after the 6th 

16 year beginning after the date of the enactment of 

17 this section. 

18 ‘‘(3) AGGREGATE LIMITATION.—In no event 

19 shall the aggregate credit determined under this sec20 tion for a taxpayer for all taxable years exceed 

21 $100,000,000. 

22 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—For purposes of this sec23 tion, the term ‘eligible taxpayer’ means any person who 

24 regularly uses more than 100 vehicles in any trade or busi25 ness of such person during the taxable year. 


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1 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED TIRE.—For purposes of this sec2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified tire’ 

4 means— 

5 ‘‘(A) any qualified new tire, and 

6 ‘‘(B) any qualified retread tire. 

7 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED NEW TIRE.—The term ‘quali8 fied new tire’ means any tire (other than a retread 

9 tire) if— 

10 ‘‘(A) the tire is manufactured in the 

11 United States, 

12 ‘‘(B) the original use of the tire begins 

13 with the taxpayer, and 

14 ‘‘(C) at least the new tire percentage of the 

15 total weight of the rubber in the tire is attrib16 utable to recycled rubber powder. 

17 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED RETREAD TIRE.—The term 

18 ‘qualified retread tire’ means any retread tire if— 

19 ‘‘(A) the tire is of a type used on highway 

20 motor vehicles having a gross vehicle weight 

21 rating of at least 2,600 pounds, 

22 ‘‘(B) the tire is retreaded in the United 

23 States, 

24 ‘‘(C) the original use of the tire (after re25 treading) begins with the taxpayer, and 


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1 ‘‘(D) at least the retread tire percentage of 

2 the total weight of the rubber in the retread 

3 portion of the tire is attributable to recycled 

4 rubber powder. 

5 ‘‘(4) RECYCLED CONTENT PERCENTAGES.—The 

6 new tire percentage and the retread tire percentage 

7 shall be determined in accordance with the following 

8 table: 

‘‘If the tire is purchased 

during— 

The new 

tire 

percentage 

is— 

The retread 

tire 

percentage 

is— 

the 1st year after the date of the enactment of 

this section .......................................................... 8 10 

the 2nd such year ................................................... 9 11 

the 3rd such year .................................................... 10 12 

the 4th such year .................................................... 11 13 

the 5th such year .................................................... 12 14 

9 ‘‘(5) RECYCLED RUBBER POWDER.—The term 

10 ‘recycled rubber powder’ means recycled vulcanizate 

11 particulate rubber at a size classification of 80 mesh 

12 or finer as defined in the ASTM standard D5603– 

13 01. 

14 ‘‘(e) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—For purposes of this 

15 section, all persons treated as a single employer under sub16 section (a) or (b) of section 52 or subsection (m) or (o) 

17 of section 414 shall be treated as one person, and the dol18 lar limitation applicable under subsection (b) for any tax19 able year shall be allocated among such persons in propor20 tion to their purchases of qualified tires during such year. 


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1 ‘‘(f) BASIS ADJUSTMENT.—For purposes of this sub2 title, if a credit is determined under this section with re3 spect to any tire, the basis of such tire shall be reduced 

4 by the amount of the credit so allowed. 

5 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall 

6 apply to tires purchased during the 5-year period begin7 ning on the day after the date of the enactment of this 

8 section.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code 

11 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of para12 graph (34), by striking the period at the end of 

13 paragraph (35) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add14 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(36) in the case of an eligible taxpayer (as de16 fined in section 45R(b)), the recycled rubber tire 

17 credit determined under section 45R(a).’’. 

18 (2) Subsection (a) of section 1016 of such Code 

19 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para20 graph (36), by striking the period at the end of 

21 paragraph (37) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by add22 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(38) to the extent provided in section 

24 45R(f).’’. 


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1 (3) The table of sections for subpart D of part 

2 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 item: 

‘‘Sec. 45R. Purchases by vehicle fleet operators of tires made from recycled 

rubber.’’. 

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

6 this section shall apply to purchases made after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act in taxable years ending after 

8 such date. 

Æ 


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