I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4977 

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

facilities that remediate and reclaim coal refuse sites in the United 

States by producing electricity from coal refuse. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 

Mr. BARLETTA 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 for certain facilities that remediate and reclaim 

coal refuse sites in the United States by producing electricity from coal refuse. 

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 ‘‘Coal Refuse Reclama5 tion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR COAL REFUSE USED TO PRODUCE 

2 ELECTRICITY AT CERTAIN FACILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 45(e) of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(12) COAL REFUSE FACILITIES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF CREDIT

8 AMOUNT.—The credit determined under this 

9 section (without regard to this subparagraph) 

10 for any taxable year shall be increased by an 

11 amount equal to $12 per ton of coal refuse used 

12 at a coal refuse facility to produce electricity at 

13 such facility during the 10-year period begin14 ning on January 1, 2018. 

15 ‘‘(B) TONS OF COAL REFUSE.—For pur16 poses of subparagraph (A), the tons of coal 

17 refuse used by an owner of a coal refuse facility 

18 shall be as set forth in Schedule 4, Part A 

19 (Fossil Fuel Stocks at the End of the Reporting 

20 Period and the Data Balance) of the U.S. En21 ergy Information Administration Form-EIA923 

22 Power Plant Operations Report (or any amend23 ed, successor, or similar form). 

24 ‘‘(C) CREDIT ELIGIBILITY.—In the case of 

25 a facility described in subparagraph (A), if the 

26 owner of such facility is not the producer of the 


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1 electricity, the person eligible for the increase in 

2 credit determined under subparagraph (A) shall 

3 be the lessee or the operator of such facility. 

4 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION OF RULES.—Rules 

5 similar to the rules of paragraphs (1), (3), and 

6 (5) of this subsection shall apply for purposes 

7 of determining the amount of any increase 

8 under this paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(E) EXEMPTION FROM PASSIVE AND AT10 RISK LIMITATIONS.—Sections 465 and 469 

11 shall not apply with respect to any increase 

12 under this paragraph.’’. 

13 (b) COAL REFUSE FACILITY DEFINED.—Section 

14 45(d) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(12) COAL REFUSE FACILITY.—In the case of 

17 a facility using coal refuse to produce electricity, the 

18 term ‘coal refuse facility’ means any facility— 

19 ‘‘(A) which was originally placed in service 

20 prior to January 1, 2018, and combusts coal 

21 refuse or fuel composed of at least 75 percent 

22 coal refuse by BTU energy value, and 

23 ‘‘(B) uses— 

24 ‘‘(i) at a minimum, a circulating fluid25 ized bed combustion unit or a pressurized 


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1 fluidized bed combustion unit equipped 

2 with a limestone injection system, for con3 trol of acid gases, and 

4 ‘‘(ii) a fabric filter particulate emis5 sion control system.’’. 

6 (c) COAL REFUSE.—Section 45(c) of such Code is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new para8 graph: 

9 ‘‘(11) COAL REFUSE.—The term ‘coal refuse’ 

10 means any waste coal, rock, shale, slurry, culm, gob, 

11 boney, slate, clay and related materials associated 

12 with or near a coal seam that are either brought 

13 aboveground or otherwise removed from a coal mine 

14 in the process of mining coal or that are separated 

15 from coal during the cleaning or preparation oper16 ations. Such term includes underground development 

17 wastes, coal processing wastes and excess spoil, but 

18 does not include overburden from surface mining ac19 tivities.’’. 

20 (d) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT AGAINST ALTERNATIVE

21 MINIMUM TAX.—Section 38(c)(4)(B)(v) of such Code is 

22 amended by inserting ‘‘or section 45(e)(12) (relating to 

23 coal refuse facilities)’’ before the comma at the end. 


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1 (e) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF CREDIT.—Subchapter B 

2 of chapter 65 of such Code is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 6433. ELECTIVE PAYMENT FOR COAL REFUSE FACILI5 TIES. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person electing the applica7 tion of this section with respect to any eligible coal refuse 

8 facility shall be treated as making a payment against the 

9 tax imposed by subtitle A for the taxable year equal to 

10 the amount of the credit that would be determined under 

11 section 45 for such facility for such year. Except as pro12 vided in subsection (b), such payment shall be treated as 

13 made on the later of the due date of the return of such 

14 tax or the date on which such return is filed. 

15 ‘‘(b) QUARTERLY ELECTION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the close of any quarter 

17 of the taxable year of any taxpayer entitled to a 

18 credit with respect to an eligible coal refuse facility, 

19 if a claim is filed under this section, the Secretary 

20 shall pay (without interest) an amount equal to the 

21 credit determined under section 45 for such quarter, 

22 calculated as if such credit were determined on a 

23 quarterly basis and as if the tons of coal refuse 

24 under section 45(e)(12)(B) were reported quarterly 

25 on Schedule 4, Part A (Fossil Fuel Stocks at the 


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1 End of the Reporting Period and the Data Balance) 

2 of the U.S. Energy Information Administration 

3 Form-EIA923 Power Plant Operations Report (or 

4 any amended, successor, or similar form). 

5 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR FILING CLAIM.—No claim filed 

6 under this subsection (b) shall be allowed unless 

7 filed during the first quarter following the last quar8 ter included in the claim. 

9 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT OF CLAIM.—Notwithstanding 

10 paragraph (1) of this subsection, if the Secretary 

11 has not paid pursuant to a claim filed under this 

12 section within 45 days of the date of the filing of 

13 such claim (20 days in the case of an electronic 

14 claim), the claim shall be paid with interest from 

15 such date determined by using the overpayment rate 

16 and method under section 6621. 

17 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES FOR PARTNERSHIPS AND S 

18 CORPORATIONS.—In the case of an eligible coal refuse fa19 cility owned or used by a partnership or an S corpora20 tion— 

21 ‘‘(1) the elections under subsection (a) or (b) 

22 may be made only by such partnership or S corpora23 tion, 

24 ‘‘(2) such partnership or S corporation shall be 

25 treated as making the payment referred to in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Feb 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4977.IH H4977

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1 section (a) only to the extent of the proportionate 

2 share of such partnership or S corporation as is 

3 owned by persons who would be treated as making 

4 such payment if the property were owned or used by 

5 such persons, and 

6 ‘‘(3) the return required to be made by such 

7 partnership or S corporation under section 6031 or 

8 6037 (as the case may be) shall be treated as a re9 turn of tax for purposes of subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH PRODUCTION CREDITS.— 

11 In the case of any eligible coal refuse facility with respect 

12 to which an election is made under subsection (a) or (b), 

13 no credit shall be determined under section 45 with re14 spect to such facility for the taxable year in which such 

15 election is made. 

16 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE COAL REFUSE FACILITY.—The term 

17 ‘eligible coal refuse facility’ means a facility eligible for 

18 a credit during the taxable year pursuant to section 

19 45(d)(12). 

20 ‘‘(f) EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME.—Any credit 

21 or refund allowed or made by reason of this section shall 

22 not be includible in gross income or alternative minimum 

23 taxable income. 

24 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may by regula25 tions prescribe the conditions, not inconsistent with the 


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1 provisions of this section, under which payments may be 

2 made under this section.’’. 

3 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to coal refuse used to produce elec5 tricity after December 31, 2017, in taxable years begin6 ning after such date. 

Æ 


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