I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 448 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the exclusion for 

certain conservation subsidies to include subsidies for water conservation 

or efficiency measures and storm water management measures. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2017 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. 

MCSALLY, and Mr. LAMALFA) 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 expand 

the exclusion for certain conservation subsidies to include 

subsidies for water conservation or efficiency measures 

and storm water management measures. 

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 ‘‘Water Conservation 

5 Rebate Tax Parity Act’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 448 IH

1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO INCOME EXCLUSION FOR CON2 SERVATION SUBSIDIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 136 of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘any subsidy provided’’ and in6 serting ‘‘any subsidy— 

7 ‘‘(1) provided’’, 

8 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert9 ing a comma, and 

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

11 paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(2) provided (directly or indirectly) by a public 

13 utility to a customer, or by a State or local govern14 ment to a resident of such State or locality, for the 

15 purchase or installation of any water conservation or 

16 efficiency measure, or 

17 ‘‘(3) provided (directly or indirectly) by a storm 

18 water management provider to a customer, or by a 

19 State or local government to a resident of such State 

20 or locality, for the purchase or installation of any 

21 storm water management measure.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 (1) DEFINITION OF WATER CONSERVATION OR

24 EFFICIENCY MEASURE AND STORM WATER MANAGE25 MENT MEASURE.—Section 136(c) of the Internal 

26 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 448 IH

1 (A) by striking ‘‘ENERGY CONSERVATION

2 MEASURE’’ in the heading thereof and inserting 

3 ‘‘DEFINITIONS’’, 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ in the 

5 heading of paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘EN6 ERGY CONSERVATION MEASURE’’, and 

7 (C) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

8 paragraph (4) and by inserting after paragraph 

9 (1) the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) WATER CONSERVATION OR EFFICIENCY

11 MEASURE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

12 ‘water conservation or efficiency measure’ means any 

13 evaluation of water use, or any installation or modi14 fication of property, the primary purpose of which is 

15 to reduce consumption of water or to improve the 

16 management of water demand with respect to one or 

17 more dwelling units. 

18 ‘‘(3) STORM WATER MANAGEMENT MEASURE.— 

19 For purposes of this section, the term ‘storm water 

20 management measure’ means any installation or 

21 modification of property primarily designed to re22 duce or manage amounts of storm water with re23 spect to one or more dwelling units.’’. 

24 (2) DEFINITION OF PUBLIC UTILITY.—Section 

25 136(c)(4) of such Code (as redesignated by paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Jan 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H448.IH H448

asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 448 IH

1 graph (1)(C)) is amended by striking subparagraph 

2 (B) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC UTILITY.—The term ‘public 

4 utility’ means a person engaged in the sale of 

5 electricity, natural gas, or water to residential, 

6 commercial, or industrial customers for use by 

7 such customers. 

8 ‘‘(C) STORM WATER MANAGEMENT PRO9 VIDER.—The term ‘storm water management 

10 provider’ means a person engaged in the provi11 sion of storm water management measures to 

12 the public. 

13 ‘‘(D) PERSON.—For purposes of subpara14 graphs (B) and (C), the term ‘person’ includes 

15 the Federal Government, a State or local gov16 ernment or any political subdivision thereof, or 

17 any instrumentality of any of the foregoing.’’. 

18 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (A) The heading of section 136 of such 

20 Code is amended— 

21 (i) by inserting ‘‘AND WATER’’ after 

22 ‘‘ENERGY’’, and 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘PROVIDED BY PUB24 LIC UTILITIES’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 448 IH

1 (B) The item relating to section 136 in the 

2 table of sections of part III of subchapter B of 

3 chapter 1 of such Code is amended— 

4 (i) by inserting ‘‘and water’’ after 

5 ‘‘energy’’, and 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘provided by public 

7 utilities’’. 

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

9 this section shall apply to amounts received after Decem10 ber 31, 2015. 

11 (d) NO INFERENCE.—Nothing in this Act or the 

12 amendments made by this Act shall be construed to create 

13 any inference with respect to the proper tax treatment of 

14 any subsidy received directly or indirectly from a public 

15 utility, a storm water management provider, or a State 

16 or local government for any water conservation measure 

17 or storm water management measure before January 1, 

18 2017. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS