II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1921 

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

the retrofit conversion of a nonhybrid motor vehicle to a hybrid. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2011 

Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts 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 provide 

a tax credit for the retrofit conversion of a nonhybrid 

motor vehicle to a hybrid. 

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 ‘‘Reducing Energy Use 

5 Through Retrofitting Older Vehicles Act’’ or the ‘‘RETRO 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR HYBRID CONVERSION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 30B of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating sub10 sections (j) and (k) as subsections (k) and (l), respectively, 


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1 and by inserting after subsection (i) the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(j) HYBRID CONVERSION CREDIT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) CREDIT ALLOWED.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of sub6 section (a), the hybrid conversion credit deter7 mined under this subsection with respect to any 

8 motor vehicle which is converted to a qualified 

9 hybrid motor vehicle is an amount equal to so 

10 much of the cost of the conversion of such vehi11 cle as does not exceed the applicable amount 

12 determined under the following table: 

‘‘If gross vehicle weight (prior to 

conversion) is: 

The applicable amount is: 

Not more than 8,500 pounds ...................................................... $3,000

More than 8,500 pounds but not more than 14,000 pounds ...... $4,000

More than 14,000 pounds but not more than 26,000 pounds .... $6,000

More than 26,000 pounds ............................................................ $8,000. 

13 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED HYBRID MOTOR VEHICLE.— 

14 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘qualified 

15 hybrid motor vehicle’ means any new qualified hy16 brid motor vehicle (as defined in subsection (d)(3), 

17 determined without regard to whether such vehicle is 

18 made by a manufacturer or whether the original use 

19 of such vehicle commences with the taxpayer) 

20 which— 

21 ‘‘(A) is used or leased by the taxpayer and 

22 is not for resale, and 


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1 ‘‘(B) achieves the minimum required re2 duction in fuel consumption determined under 

3 the following table, relative to the fuel con4 sumption of an uncoverted vehicle of the same 

5 make and model under the Urban Dynamom6 eter Driving Schedule (UDDS) test procedure 

7 issued by the Environmental Protection Agency 

8 (40 CFR 86.115 and appendix I to 40 CFR 

9 part 86): 

‘‘If vehicle (prior to conversion) 

is: 

The minimum required 

reduction is: 

A passenger vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of not more 

than 8,500 pounds ................................................................... 19 percent

A light truck with a gross vehicle weight of not more than 

8,500 pounds ............................................................................ 15 percent

A diesel vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of more than 8,500 

pounds but not more than 14,000 pounds .............................. 17 percent

A gasoline vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of more than 

8,500 pounds but not more than 14,000 pounds .................... 12 percent

A vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of more than 14,000 

pounds ...................................................................................... 10 percent. 

10 ‘‘(3) CREDIT ALLOWED IN ADDITION TO OTHER

11 CREDITS.—The credit allowed under this subsection 

12 shall be allowed with respect to a motor vehicle not13 withstanding whether a credit has been allowed with 

14 respect to such motor vehicle under this section 

15 (other than this subsection and subsection (i)) in 

16 any preceding taxable year. No credit shall be al17 lowed under this subsection with respect to a motor 

18 vehicle if the credit under subsection (i) is allowed 

19 with respect to such motor vehicle in any taxable 

20 year. 


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1 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF HYBRID CON2 VERSIONS ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT.—This subsection 

3 shall not apply to the conversion of any motor vehi4 cle after the last day of the calendar quarter which 

5 includes the first date on which the total number of 

6 conversions with respect to which a credit under this 

7 subsection has been allowed for all taxable years is 

8 at least equal to the applicable number determined 

9 under the following table: 

‘‘If gross vehicle weight (prior to 

conversion) is: 

The applicable number is: 

Not more than 8,500 pounds ...................................................... 100,000

More than 8,500 pounds but not more than 14,000 pounds ...... 70,000

More than 14,000 pounds but not more than 26,000 pounds .... 20,000

More than 26,000 pounds ............................................................ 10,000. 

10 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—This subsection shall not 

11 apply to conversions made after the date which is 5 

12 years after the date of the enactment of the RETRO 

13 Act.’’. 

14 (b) CREDIT TREATED AS PART OF ALTERNATIVE

15 MOTOR VEHICLE CREDIT.—Subsection (a) of section 30B 

16 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

18 (4), 

19 (2) by striking the period at the end of para20 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

22 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(6) the hybrid conversion credit determined 

2 under subsection (j).’’. 

3 (c) NO RECAPTURE FOR VEHICLES CONVERTED TO

4 QUALIFIED HYBRID MOTOR VEHICLES.—Paragraph (8) 

5 of section 30B(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

6 is amended by striking ‘‘a vehicle)’’ and all that follows 

7 and inserting ‘‘a vehicle), except that no benefit shall be 

8 recaptured if such property ceases to be eligible for such 

9 credit by reason of conversion to a qualified plug-in elec10 tric drive motor vehicle or a qualified hybrid motor vehi11 cle.’’. 

12 (d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Paragraph (3) 

13 of section 30B(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

14 is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘No credit 

15 shall be allowed under this subsection with respect to a 

16 motor vehicle if the credit under subsection (j) is allowed 

17 with respect to such motor vehicle in any taxable year.’’. 

18 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (f) RESCISSION OF UNOBLIGATED FEDERAL FUNDS

22 TO OFFSET LOSS IN REVENUES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

24 provision of law, of all available unobligated funds, 

25 appropriated discretionary funds are hereby reVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:22 Nov 30, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921

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1 scinded in such amounts as determined by the Di2 rector of the Office of Management and Budget such 

3 that the aggregate amount of such rescission equals 

4 the reduction in revenues to the Treasury by reason 

5 of the amendments made by this section. 

6 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Director of the 

7 Office of Management and Budget shall determine 

8 and identify from which appropriation accounts the 

9 rescission under paragraph (1) shall apply and the 

10 amount of such rescission that shall apply to each 

11 such account. Not later than 60 days after the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of13 fice of Management and Budget shall submit a re14 port to the Secretary of the Treasury and Congress 

15 of the accounts and amounts determined and identi16 fied for rescission under the preceding sentence. 

17 (3) EXCEPTION.—This subsection shall not 

18 apply to the unobligated funds of the Department of 

19 Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, or any 

20 funds appropriated for disaster relief. 

Æ 


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