I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7979 

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

certain disaster resilient property. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 7, 2020 

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. DEFAZIO, and Mr. DIAZ-BALART) 

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 credit for owning certain disaster resilient property. 

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 ‘‘Disaster Savings and 

5 Resilient Construction Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISASTER RESILIENT PROPERTY TAX CREDIT. 

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

9 1986 is amended by inserting after section 30D the fol10 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 30E. DISASTER RESILIENT PROPERTY. 

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—There shall be allowed as a 

3 credit against the tax imposed by this chapter for the tax4 able year an amount equal to the applicable amount for 

5 each qualified building placed in service during the taxable 

6 year. 

7 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub8 section (a)— 

9 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL PROPERTY.—ln the case of a 

10 qualified commercial property, the applicable amount 

11 is the lesser of— 

12 ‘‘(A) 1 percent of the cost of the building, 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(B) $25,000 per building. 

15 ‘‘(2) RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.—ln the case of a 

16 qualified residential property, the applicable amount 

17 is the lesser of— 

18 ‘‘(A) 1 percent of the cost of the property, 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(B) $3,000 per property. 

21 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED BUILDING.—For purposes of sub22 section (a)— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified build24 ing’ means a building— 


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1 ‘‘(A) owned by the taxpayer in a disaster 

2 area determined as a result of a federally de3 clared major disaster, 

4 ‘‘(B) the construction of which began after 

5 the date of such disaster in that area, 

6 ‘‘(C) which— 

7 ‘‘(i) is qualified commercial property 

8 placed in service for commercial purposes, 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(ii) is qualified residential property 

11 placed in service for residential purposes, 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(D) for which a certificate of occupancy is 

14 issued before the end of the 3-year period be15 ginning on the date of such disaster declaration 

16 in that area. 

17 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED COMMERCIAL PROPERTY.—The 

18 term ‘qualified commercial property’ means a build19 ing that is— 

20 ‘‘(A) located in the United States, 

21 ‘‘(B) defined in the scope of the most re22 cent International Building Code published by 

23 the International Code Council, and 

24 ‘‘(C) designed and constructed to meet re25 silient construction requirements. 


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1 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.— 

2 The term ‘qualified residential property’ means a 

3 building that is— 

4 ‘‘(A) located in the United States, 

5 ‘‘(B) defined in the scope of the most re6 cent International Residential Code published 

7 by the International Code Council, and 

8 ‘‘(C) designed and constructed to meet re9 silient construction requirements. 

10 ‘‘(d) RESILIENT CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 For purposes of this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The resilient construction 

13 requirements with respect to a property are that the 

14 property is designed and constructed to— 

15 ‘‘(A) resist hazards brought on by a major 

16 disaster and continues to provide its primary 

17 functions after a major disaster, 

18 ‘‘(B) reduce the magnitude or duration of 

19 a disruptive event, and 

20 ‘‘(C) have the absorptive capacity, adaptive 

21 capacity, and recoverability to withstand a po22 tentially disruptive event. 

23 ‘‘(2) TREATED AS MEETING RESILIENCY RE24 QUIREMENTS.—For purposes of paragraph (1)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of a qualified commercial 

2 property, the property shall be treated as meet3 ing the requirements specified in paragraph (1) 

4 if the property is a building which— 

5 ‘‘(i) was designed to meet the require6 ments of the most recent International 

7 Building Code published by the Inter8 national Code Council and meets the FOR9 TIFIED Commercial Wind Standard pub10 lished by the Insurance Institute for Busi11 ness and Home Safety, or the most recent 

12 International Wildland Urban Interface 

13 Code published by the International Code 

14 Council, 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a substantial ren16 ovation, such renovation meets the require17 ments of— 

18 ‘‘(I) the most recent Inter19 national Building Code published by 

20 the International Code Council and 

21 the FORTIFIED Commercial Wind 

22 Standard published by the Insurance 

23 Institute for Business and Home 

24 Safety, or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the most recent Inter2 national Wildland Urban Interface 

3 Code published by the International 

4 Code Council, or 

5 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a qualified com6 mercial property in a high seismic hazard 

7 zone, was designed and built to achieve a 

8 reduction in the earthquake risks relative 

9 to code-designed buildings by minimizing 

10 building damage and promoting contin11 gency planning for utility disruption and 

12 other threats to functional recovery that 

13 are described in the U.S. Resiliency Coun14 cil Rating System with specific design cri15 teria achieving the Platinum or Gold rat16 ing, and 

17 ‘‘(B) in the case of a qualified residential 

18 property, the property shall be treated as meet19 ing the requirements specified in paragraph (1) 

20 if— 

21 ‘‘(i) the property is a building 

22 which— 

23 ‘‘(I) was designed to meet the re24 quirements of the most recent Inter25 national Residential Code published 


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1 by the International Code Council, 

2 and received a FORTIFIED Roof, 

3 FORTIFIED Silver, or FORTIFIED 

4 Gold designation from the Insurance 

5 Institute for Business and Home 

6 Safety, or 

7 ‘‘(II) was designed to meet or ex8 ceed the requirements of the most re9 cent Standard for Residential Con10 struction in High-Wind Regions or 

11 International Wildland Urban Inter12 face Code published by the Inter13 national Code Council, or 

14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a substantial ren15 ovation, such renovation meets— 

16 ‘‘(I) the requirements of the most 

17 recent International Residential Code 

18 published by the International Code 

19 Council and the requirements of the 

20 FORTIFIED Roof Standards pub21 lished by the Insurance Institute for 

22 Business and Home Safety, or 

23 ‘‘(II) the requirements of the 

24 most recent Standard for Residential 

25 Construction in High-Wind Regions 


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1 or International Wildland Urban 

2 Interface Code published by the Inter3 national Code Council. 

4 ‘‘(3) ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY.—The term ‘ab5 sorptive capacity’ means the ability of the construc6 tion to endure a disruption without significant devi7 ation from normal operating performance. 

8 ‘‘(4) ADAPTIVE CAPACITY.—The term ‘adaptive 

9 capacity’ means the ability of the construction to 

10 adapt to a drastic change in normal operating condi11 tions. 

12 ‘‘(5) RECOVERABILITY.—.The term 

13 ‘recoverability’ means the ability of the construction 

14 to recover quickly, and at low cost, from potentially 

15 disruptive events. 

16 ‘‘(e) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

17 section: 

18 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘construction’ 

19 includes new construction and reconstruction and re20 habilitation that meets resilient construction require21 ments. 

22 ‘‘(2) FEDERALLY DECLARED MAJOR DIS23 ASTER.—The term ‘federally declared major dis24 aster’ means a disaster subsequently determined by 

25 the President to be a ‘major disaster’ that warrants 


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1 assistance by the Federal Government under the 

2 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

3 Assistance Act. 

4 ‘‘(3) DISASTER AREA.—The term ‘disaster area’ 

5 means the area so determined to warrant such as6 sistance. 

7 ‘‘(4) MOST RECENT EDITIONS.—The term 

8 ‘most recent’ means, with respect to relevant na9 tional consensus-based codes, and specifications and 

10 standards referenced therein, either of the two most 

11 recent published editions, including, if any, amend12 ments made by State, local, tribal, or territorial gov13 ernments during the adoption process, that incor14 porate the latest natural hazard-resistant designs 

15 and establish criteria for the design, construction, 

16 and maintenance of structures and facilities that 

17 may be eligible for assistance under this section for 

18 the purposes of protecting the health, safety, and 

19 general welfare of a building’s users against disas20 ters. 

21 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) BUSINESS CREDIT TREATED AS PART OF

23 GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.—So much of the credit 

24 which would be allowed under subsection (a) for any 

25 taxable year (determined without regard to this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7979.IH H7979

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1 section) that is attributable to property of a char2 acter subject to an allowance for depreciation shall 

3 be treated as a credit listed in section 38(b) for such 

4 taxable year (and not allowed under subsection (a)). 

5 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL CREDIT.—For purposes of this 

6 title, the credit allowed under subsection (a) for any 

7 taxable year (determined after application of para8 graph (1)) shall be treated as a credit allowable 

9 under subpart A for such taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(g) BASIS REDUCTION.—For purposes of this sub11 title, the basis of any property for which a credit is allow12 able under subsection (a) shall be reduced by the amount 

13 of such credit so allowed. 

14 ‘‘(h) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

15 any property for which a certificate for occupancy is issued 

16 after December 31, 2022.’’. 

17 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

18 CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by strik19 ing ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (31), by striking the 

20 period at the end of paragraph (32) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, 

21 and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(33) the portion of the disaster resilient prop23 erty credit described in section 30E(f)(1).’’. 

24 (c) BASIS ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1016(a) of such 

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1 graph (37), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 

2 (38) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end the 

3 following new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(39) to the extent provided in section 30E(g), 

5 in the case of amounts with respect to which a credit 

6 has been allowed under section 30E.’’. 

7 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

8 for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

9 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat10 ing to section 30D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 30E. Disaster resilient property.’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply to property for which a certificate 

13 of occupancy is issued after the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act. 

Æ 


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