II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1980 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide credits for the 

production of renewable chemicals and investments in renewable chemical 

production facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 18, 2017 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. COONS, Mr. FRANKEN, and 

Ms. BALDWIN) 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 

credits for the production of renewable chemicals and 

investments in renewable chemical production facilities, 

and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Renewable Chemicals 

5 Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CREDITS FOR PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE CHEMI2 CALS AND INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLE 

3 CHEMICAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES. 

4 (a) PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE CHEMICALS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of 

6 subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 45S. CREDIT FOR PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE 

10 CHEMICALS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 

12 production credit for renewable chemicals for any taxable 

13 year is an amount (determined separately for each renew14 able chemical) equal to $0.15 per pound of biobased con15 tent of each renewable chemical produced during the tax16 able year— 

17 ‘‘(1) by the taxpayer, or 

18 ‘‘(2) for the taxpayer by a contract manufac19 turer under a binding written agreement. 

20 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount of the credit deter21 mined under subsection (a) with respect to a renewable 

22 chemical produced during any taxable year shall not ex23 ceed the credit amount allocated for purposes of this sec24 tion by the Secretary to the taxpayer with respect to such 

25 chemical for such taxable year under section 48E(e). 

26 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) RENEWABLE CHEMICAL.—The term ‘re2 newable chemical’ means any chemical which— 

3 ‘‘(A) is produced in the United States (or 

4 in a territory or possession of the United 

5 States) from renewable biomass, 

6 ‘‘(B) is sold or used by the taxpayer— 

7 ‘‘(i) for the production of chemical 

8 products, polymers, plastics, or formulated 

9 products, or 

10 ‘‘(ii) as chemicals, polymers, plastics, 

11 or formulated products, 

12 ‘‘(C) is not less than 95 percent biobased 

13 content, 

14 ‘‘(D) is the product of, or is reliant upon, 

15 biological conversion, thermal conversion, or a 

16 combination of biological and thermal conver17 sion of renewable biomass, 

18 ‘‘(E) is not sold or used for the production 

19 of any food, feed, or fuel, and 

20 ‘‘(F) is not a chemical for which a credit 

21 has been claimed by the taxpayer in any taxable 

22 year under this section or section 48E. 

23 ‘‘(2) BIOBASED CONTENT.—The term ‘biobased 

24 content’ means, with respect to any renewable chem25 ical, the biobased content of the total mass of orVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Oct 19, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1980.IS S1980

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1 ganic carbon in such chemical (expressed as a per2 centage), determined by testing representative sam3 ples using the American Society for Testing and Ma4 terials (ASTM) D6866. 

5 ‘‘(3) RENEWABLE BIOMASS.—The term ‘renew6 able biomass’ has the meaning given such term in 

7 section 9001(13) of the Farm Security and Rural 

8 Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101(13)). 

9 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL LIMITATION ON CREDITS FOR RE10 NEWABLE CHEMICALS.—See section 48E(e) for rules re11 lating to national limitation on credits under this section. 

12 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION WITH INVESTMENT CREDIT FOR

13 RENEWABLE CHEMICAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES.—See 

14 section 48E(f) for rules coordinating section 48E with this 

15 section. 

16 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro17 vision of this section or section 48E, the Secretary may 

18 not allocate any credit amount under this section to any 

19 taxable year which begins more than 5 years after the date 

20 of the enactment of this section.’’. 

21 (2) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSI22 NESS CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such 

23 Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of 

24 paragraph (35), by striking the period at the end of 


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1 paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add2 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(37) the renewable chemicals production credit 

4 determined under section 45S(a).’’. 

5 (b) INVESTMENT CREDIT IN LIEU OF PRODUCTION

6 CREDIT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 46 of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ 

9 at the end of paragraph (5), by striking the period 

10 at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, 

11 and by adding at the end the following new para12 graph: 

13 ‘‘(7) the renewable chemical production facili14 ties credit.’’. 

15 (2) RENEWABLE CHEMICAL PRODUCTION FA16 CILITIES CREDIT.—Subpart E of part IV of sub17 chapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 

18 inserting after section 48D the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 48E. INVESTMENT CREDIT FOR RENEWABLE CHEM20 ICAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 46, the 

22 renewable chemical production facilities credit for any tax23 able year is an amount equal to 30 percent of the basis 

24 of any eligible property which is a part of a renewable 


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1 chemical production facility placed in service by the tax2 payer during such taxable year. 

3 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount of the credit deter4 mined under subsection (a) with respect to a renewable 

5 chemical production facility of the taxpayer during any 

6 taxable year shall not exceed the credit amount allocated 

7 for purposes of this section by the Secretary to the tax8 payer for such taxable year under subsection (e). 

9 ‘‘(c) RENEWABLE CHEMICAL PRODUCTION FACIL10 ITY.—For purposes of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘renewable chem12 ical production facility’ means a facility— 

13 ‘‘(A) which is owned by the taxpayer, 

14 ‘‘(B) which is originally placed in service 

15 after the date of the enactment of this section 

16 and before the first day of the taxable year 

17 which begins 6 years after the date of the en18 actment of this section, and 

19 ‘‘(C) with respect to which— 

20 ‘‘(i) no credit has been allowed under 

21 section 45S for chemicals produced at such 

22 facility in any previous taxable year, and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the taxpayer makes an irrev24 ocable election to have this section apply, 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(D) which is used to produce renewable 

2 chemicals. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PROPERTY.—The term ‘eligible 

4 property’ means any property— 

5 ‘‘(A) which is— 

6 ‘‘(i) tangible personal property, or 

7 ‘‘(ii) other tangible property (not in8 cluding a building or its structural compo9 nents), 

10 but only if such property is used as an integral 

11 part of the renewable chemical production facil12 ity, and 

13 ‘‘(B) with respect to which depreciation (or 

14 amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allow15 able. 

16 ‘‘(3) RENEWABLE CHEMICAL.—The term ‘re17 newable chemical’ has the meaning given such term 

18 by section 45S(c)(1). 

19 ‘‘(d) CERTAIN QUALIFIED PROGRESS EXPENDI20 TURES RULES MADE APPLICABLE.—Rules similar to the 

21 rules of subsections (c)(4) and (d) of section 46 (as in 

22 effect on the day before the enactment of the Revenue 

23 Reconciliation Act of 1990) shall apply for purposes of 

24 this section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL LIMITATION ON CREDITS FOR RE2 NEWABLE CHEMICALS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

5 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Ag6 riculture, shall establish a program to allocate credit 

7 amounts under this section and section 45S to tax8 payers who produce renewable chemicals for taxable 

9 years ending after the date of the enactment of this 

10 section. 

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) AGGREGATE LIMITATION.—The total 

13 amount of credits that may be allocated under 

14 such program shall not exceed $500,000,000. 

15 ‘‘(B) TAXPAYER LIMITATION.—The 

16 amount of credits that may be allocated to any 

17 taxpayer for any taxable year under such pro18 gram shall not exceed $25,000,000. For pur19 poses of the preceding sentence, all persons 

20 treated as a single employer under subsection 

21 (a) or (b) of section 52, or subsection (m) or 

22 (o) of section 414, shall be treated as one tax23 payer. 

24 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In determining to 

25 which taxpayers to make allocations of the credit 


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1 amount under such program, the Secretary shall 

2 take into consideration— 

3 ‘‘(A) the number of jobs created and main4 tained (directly and indirectly) in the United 

5 States (including territories and possessions of 

6 the United States) as result of such allocation 

7 during the credit period and thereafter, 

8 ‘‘(B) the degree to which the production of 

9 the renewable chemical demonstrates reduced 

10 dependence on imported feedstocks, petroleum, 

11 non-renewable resources, or other fossil fuels, 

12 ‘‘(C) the technological innovation involved 

13 in the production method of the renewable 

14 chemical, 

15 ‘‘(D) the energy efficiency and reduction in 

16 lifecycle greenhouse gases of the renewable 

17 chemical or of the production method of the re18 newable chemical, and 

19 ‘‘(E) whether there is a reasonable expec20 tation of commercial viability. 

21 ‘‘(4) REDISTRIBUTION.—If a credit amount al22 located to a taxpayer for a taxable year with respect 

23 to any renewable chemical or renewable chemical 

24 production facility (determined without regard to 

25 this paragraph) exceeds the amount of the credit 


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1 with respect to such chemical determined under this 

2 section on the taxpayer’s return for such taxable 

3 year— 

4 ‘‘(A) the credit amount allocated to such 

5 taxpayer for such taxable year with respect to 

6 such renewable chemical shall be treated as 

7 being the amount so determined on the tax8 payer’s return, and 

9 ‘‘(B) such excess may be reallocated by the 

10 Secretary consistent with the requirements of 

11 this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(5) DISCLOSURE OF ALLOCATIONS.—The Sec13 retary shall, upon making an allocation of credit 

14 amount under this section, publicly disclose the iden15 tity of the taxpayer and the amount of the credit 

16 with respect to such taxpayer. 

17 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH PRODUCTION CREDIT FOR

18 RENEWABLE CHEMICALS.—If a taxpayer makes an elec19 tion under subsection (c)(1)(C)(ii) with respect to a renew20 able chemical production facility, a credit shall not be al21 lowed under section 45S for any renewable chemical pro22 duced by such facility. 

23 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue such 

24 regulations or other guidance as may be necessary to carry 

25 out this section and section 45S. 


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1 ‘‘(h) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may not allocate 

2 any credit amount under this section to any taxable year 

3 which begins more than 5 years after the date of the en4 actment of this section.’’. 

5 (c) CREDITS ALLOWABLE AGAINST ALTERNATIVE

6 MINIMUM TAX.—Subparagraph (B) of section 38(c)(4) of 

7 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesig8 nating clauses (vii) through (ix) as clauses (ix) through 

9 (xi), respectively, and by inserting after clause (vi) the fol10 lowing new clauses: 

11 ‘‘(vii) the credit determined under sec12 tion 45S, 

13 ‘‘(viii) the credit determined under 

14 section 46 to the extent that such credit is 

15 attributable to the renewable chemical pro16 duction facilities credit under section 

17 48E,’’. 

18 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

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

20 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev21 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45S. Credit for production of renewable chemicals.’’. 

23 (2) The table of sections for subpart E of part 

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


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1 amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘Sec. 48E. Investment credit for renewable chemical production facilities.’’. 

3 (e) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to renewable chemicals produced 

5 and renewable chemical production facilities placed in 

6 service after the date of the enactment of this Act, in tax7 able years ending after such date. 

Æ 


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