II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1736 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an investment 

tax credit related to the production of electricity from offshore wind. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2015 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. COONS, Mr. KING, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. REED) 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 

for an investment tax credit related to the production 

of electricity from offshore wind. 

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 ‘‘Incentivizing Offshore 

5 Wind Power Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. QUALIFYING OFFSHORE WIND FACILITY CREDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 46 of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 


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

2 (5), 

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (6) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

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

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(7) the qualifying offshore wind facility cred8 it.’’. 

9 (b) AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—Subpart E of part IV of 

10 subchapter A of chapter 1 is amended by inserting after 

11 section 48D the following new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 48E. CREDIT FOR OFFSHORE WIND FACILITIES. 

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

14 qualifying offshore wind facility credit for any taxable year 

15 is an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified invest16 ment for such taxable year with respect to any qualifying 

17 offshore wind facility of the taxpayer. 

18 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED INVESTMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

20 (a), the qualified investment for any taxable year is 

21 the basis of eligible property placed in service by the 

22 taxpayer during such taxable year which is part of 

23 a qualifying offshore wind facility. 

24 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN QUALIFIED PROGRESS EXPENDI25 TURES RULES MADE APPLICABLE.—Rules similar to 


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1 the rules of subsections (c)(4) and (d) of section 46 

2 (as in effect on the day before the enactment of the 

3 Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990) shall apply for 

4 purposes of this section. 

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

6 ‘‘(1) QUALIFYING OFFSHORE WIND FACILITY.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying 

8 offshore wind facility’ means an offshore facility 

9 using wind to produce electricity. 

10 ‘‘(B) OFFSHORE FACILITY.—The term 

11 ‘offshore facility’ means any facility located in 

12 the inland navigable waters of the United 

13 States, including the Great Lakes, or in the 

14 coastal waters of the United States, including 

15 the territorial seas of the United States, the ex16 clusive economic zone of United States, and the 

17 outer Continental Shelf of the United States. 

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

19 property’ means any property— 

20 ‘‘(A) which is— 

21 ‘‘(i) tangible personal property, or 

22 ‘‘(ii) other tangible property (not in23 cluding a building or its structural compo24 nents), but only if such property is used as 


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1 an integral part of the qualifying offshore 

2 wind facility, and 

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

4 amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allow5 able. 

6 ‘‘(d) QUALIFYING CREDIT FOR OFFSHORE WIND FA7 CILITIES PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

10 days after the date of the enactment of this sec11 tion, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

12 Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of the 

13 Interior, shall establish a qualifying credit for 

14 offshore wind facilities program to consider and 

15 award certifications for qualified investments el16 igible for credits under this section to qualifying 

17 offshore wind facility sponsors. 

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The total amount of 

19 megawatt capacity for offshore facilities with 

20 respect to which credits may be allocated under 

21 the program shall not exceed 3,000 megawatts. 

22 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION PERIOD.—Each appli24 cant for certification under this paragraph shall 

25 submit an application containing such informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Jul 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1736.IS S1736

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1 tion as the Secretary may require beginning on 

2 the date the Secretary establishes the program 

3 under paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(B) PERIOD OF ISSUANCE.—An applicant 

5 which receives a certification shall have 5 years 

6 from the date of issuance of the certification in 

7 order to place the facility in service and if such 

8 facility is not placed in service by that time pe9 riod, then the certification shall no longer be 

10 valid. 

11 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In determining 

12 which qualifying offshore wind facilities to certify 

13 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) take into consideration which facili15 ties will be placed in service at the earliest date, 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) take into account the technology of 

18 the facility that may lead to reduced industry 

19 and consumer costs or expand access to off20 shore wind. 

21 ‘‘(4) REVIEW, ADDITIONAL ALLOCATIONS, AND

22 REALLOCATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) REVIEW.—Periodically, but not later 

24 than 4 years after the date of the enactment of 

25 this section, the Secretary shall review the credVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Jul 11, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1736.IS S1736

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1 its allocated under this section as of the date of 

2 such review. 

3 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL ALLOCATIONS AND RE4 ALLOCATIONS.—The Secretary may make addi5 tional allocations and reallocations of credits 

6 under this section if the Secretary determines 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(i) the limitation under paragraph 

9 (1)(B) has not been attained at the time of 

10 the review, or 

11 ‘‘(ii) scheduled placed-in-service dates 

12 of previously certified facilities have been 

13 significantly delayed and the Secretary de14 termines the applicant will not meet the 

15 timeline pursuant to paragraph (2)(B). 

16 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM FOR ALLOCA17 TIONS AND REALLOCATIONS.—If the Secretary 

18 determines that credits under this section are 

19 available for further allocation or reallocation, 

20 but there is an insufficient quantity of quali21 fying applications for certification pending at 

22 the time of the review, the Secretary is author23 ized to conduct an additional program for appli24 cations for certification. 


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1 ‘‘(5) DISCLOSURE OF ALLOCATIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall, upon making a certification under this 

3 subsection, publicly disclose the identity of the appli4 cant and the amount of the credit with respect to 

5 such applicant. 

6 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—A credit shall 

7 not be allowed under this section with respect to any facil8 ity if— 

9 ‘‘(1) a credit has been allowed to such facility 

10 under section 45 for such taxable year or any prior 

11 taxable year, 

12 ‘‘(2) a credit has been allowed with respect to 

13 such facility under section 46 by reason of section 

14 48(a) or 48C(a) for such taxable or any preceding 

15 taxable year, or 

16 ‘‘(3) a grant has been made with respect to 

17 such facility under section 1603 of the American Re18 covery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.’’. 

19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) Section 49(a)(1)(C) of the Internal Revenue 

21 Code of 1986 is amended— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 

23 (v), 

24 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

25 clause (vi) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 


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1 (C) by adding after clause (vi) the fol2 lowing new clause: 

3 ‘‘(vii) the basis of any property which 

4 is part of a qualifying offshore wind facil5 ity under section 48E.’’. 

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

7 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

9 item relating to section 48D the following new item: 

‘‘48E. Credit for offshore wind facilities.’’. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to periods after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, under rules similar to the rules of 

13 section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as 

14 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 

15 the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990). 

Æ 


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