I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4835 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax relief to promote 

investments in mine safety. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2006 

Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania 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 

tax relief to promote investments in mine safety. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PARTIAL EXPENSING FOR ADVANCED MINE 

4 SAFETY EQUIPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VI of subchapter B of chap6 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 

7 itemized deductions for individuals and corporations) is 

8 amended by inserting after section 179D the following new 

9 section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 179E. ELECTION TO EXPENSE ADVANCED MINE SAFE2 TY EQUIPMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT AS EXPENSES.—A taxpayer may 

4 elect to treat 50 percent of the cost of any qualified ad5 vanced mine safety equipment property as an expense 

6 which is not chargeable to capital account. Any cost so 

7 treated shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year 

8 in which the qualified advanced mine safety equipment 

9 property is placed in service. 

10 ‘‘(b) ELECTION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An election under this sec12 tion for any taxable year shall be made on the tax13 payer’s return of the tax imposed by this chapter for 

14 the taxable year. Such election shall specify the ad15 vanced mine safety equipment property to which the 

16 election applies and shall be made in such manner 

17 as the Secretary may by regulations prescribe. 

18 ‘‘(2) ELECTION IRREVOCABLE.—Any election 

19 made under this section may not be revoked except 

20 with the consent of the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED ADVANCED MINE SAFETY EQUIP22 MENT PROPERTY.—For purposes of this section, the term 

23 ‘qualified advanced mine safety equipment property’ 

24 means any advanced mine safety equipment property for 

25 use in any underground mine located in the United 

26 States— 
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1 ‘‘(1) the original use of which commences with 

2 the taxpayer, and 

3 ‘‘(2) which is placed in service by the taxpayer 

4 after the date of the enactment of this section. 

5 ‘‘(d) ADVANCED MINE SAFETY EQUIPMENT PROP6 ERTY.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘advanced 

7 mine safety equipment property’ means any of the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(1) Emergency communication technology or 

10 device which is used to allow a miner to maintain 

11 constant communication with an individual who is 

12 not in the mine. 

13 ‘‘(2) Electronic identification and location de14 vice which allows an individual who is not in the 

15 mine to track at all times the movements and loca16 tion of miners working in or at the mine. 

17 ‘‘(3) Emergency oxygen-generating, self-rescue 

18 device which provides oxygen for at least 90 min19 utes. 

20 ‘‘(4) Pre-positioned supplies of oxygen which (in 

21 combination with self-rescue devices) can be used to 

22 provide each miner on a shift, in the event of an ac23 cident or other event which traps the miner in the 

24 mine or otherwise necessitates the use of such a self- 
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1 rescue device, the ability to survive for at least 48 

2 hours. 

3 ‘‘(5) Comprehensive atmospheric monitoring 

4 system which monitors the levels of carbon mon5 oxide, methane, and oxygen that are present in all 

6 areas of the mine and which can detect smoke in the 

7 case of a fire in a mine. 

8 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION WITH SECTION 179.—No 

10 expenditures shall be taken into account under sub11 section (a) with respect to the portion of the cost of 

12 any property specified in an election under section 

13 179. 

14 ‘‘(2) BASIS REDUCTION.—For purposes of this 

15 title, the basis of any property shall be reduced by 

16 the portion of the cost of such property taken into 

17 account under subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

19 property placed in service after the date which is 3 years 

20 after the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

21 (b) ALTERNATIVE ELECTION TO INCREASE MINIMUM

22 TAX LIMITATION.—Section 53 of such Code (relating to 

23 credit for prior year minimum tax liability) is amended 

24 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
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1 ‘‘(e) TEMPORARY ELECTION TO INCREASE MINIMUM

2 TAX LIMITATION FOR MINE SAFETY INVESTMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A taxpayer may elect to in4 crease the limitation under subsection (c) for a tax5 able year by the cost of any qualified advanced mine 

6 safety equipment property, as defined for purposes 

7 of section 179E, placed into service during such tax8 able year. 

9 ‘‘(2) ELECTION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An election under this 

11 subsection for any taxable year shall be made 

12 on the taxpayer’s return of the tax imposed by 

13 this chapter for the taxable year. Such election 

14 shall specify the advanced mine safety equip15 ment property to which the election applies and 

16 shall be made in such manner as the Secretary 

17 may by regulations prescribe. 

18 ‘‘(B) ELECTION IRREVOCABLE.—Any elec19 tion made under this subsection may not be re20 voked except with the consent of the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(C) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—A taxpayer 

22 making an election under this subsection for 

23 any taxable year may not make an election for 

24 such year under section 179E. 
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1 ‘‘(3) CREDIT REFUNDABLE.—The aggregate in2 crease in the credit allowed by this section for any 

3 taxable year by reason of this subsection shall for 

4 purposes of this title (other than subsection (b)(2) 

5 of this section) be treated as a credit allowed to the 

6 taxpayer under subpart C. 

7 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The election made under 

8 this subsection shall not apply with respect to prop9 erty placed in service after the date which is 3 years 

10 after the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

11 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) Section 263(a)(1) of such Code is amended 

13 by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (J), by 

14 striking the period at the end of subparagraph (K) 

15 and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by inserting after subpara16 graph (K) the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(L) expenditures for which a deduction is 

18 allowed under section 179E.’’. 

19 (2) Section 312(k)(3)(B) of such Code is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘or 179D’’ each place it ap21 pears in the heading and text thereof and inserting 

22 ‘‘179D, or 179E’’. 

23 (3) Section 1016(a) of such Code is amended 

24 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (36), by 

25 striking the period at the end of paragraph (37) and 
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1 inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(38) to the extent provided in section 

4 179E(e)(2).’’. 

5 (4) Section 1245(a)(2)(C) of such Code is 

6 amended by inserting ‘‘179E,’’ after ‘‘179D,’’. 

7 (5) The table of sections for part VI of sub8 chapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 

9 inserting after the item relating to section 179D the 

10 following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 179E. Election to expense advanced mine safety equipment’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply to costs paid or incurred after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 2. MINE RESCUE TEAM TRAINING TAX CREDIT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub16 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

17 1986 (relating to business related credits) is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 45N. MINE RESCUE TEAM TRAINING CREDIT. 

20 ‘‘(a) AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—For purposes of section 

21 38, the mine rescue team training credit determined under 

22 this section with respect to any eligible employer for any 

23 taxable year is an amount equal to the lesser of— 

24 ‘‘(1) 20 percent of the amount paid or incurred 

25 by the taxpayer during the taxable year with respect 

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1 to the training program costs of each qualified mine 

2 rescue team employee (including wages of such em3 ployee while attending such program), or 

4 ‘‘(2) $10,000 per qualified mine rescue team 

5 employee. 

6 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED MINE RESCUE TEAM EMPLOYEE.— 

7 For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified mine res8 cue team employee’ means with respect to any taxable year 

9 any full-time employee of the taxpayer who is— 

10 ‘‘(1) a miner eligible for more than 6 months 

11 of such taxable year to serve as a mine rescue team 

12 member as a result of completing, at a minimum, an 

13 initial 20-hour course of instruction as prescribed by 

14 the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Office 

15 of Educational Policy and Development, or 

16 ‘‘(2) a miner eligible for more than 6 months 

17 of such taxable year to serve as a mine rescue team 

18 member by virtue of receiving at least 40 hours of 

19 refresher training in such instruction. 

20 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—For purposes of this 

21 section, the term ‘eligible employer’ means any taxpayer 

22 which employs individuals as miners in underground mines 

23 in the United States. 

24 ‘‘(d) WAGES.—For purposes of this section, the term 

25 ‘wages’ has the meaning given to such term by subsection 
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1 (b) of section 3306 (determined without regard to any dol2 lar limitation contained in such section). 

3 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

4 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008.’’. 

5 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

6 CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by strik7 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (29), by striking the 

8 period at the end of paragraph (30) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, 

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

10 ‘‘(31) the mine rescue team training credit de11 termined under section 45N(a).’’. 

12 (c) CREDIT ALLOWED AGAINST MINIMUM TAX.— 

13 Subparagraph (B) of section 38(c)(4) of such Code (relat14 ing to specified credits) is amended by redesignating 

15 clause (ii) as clause (iii) and inserting after clause (i) the 

16 following new clause: 

17 ‘‘(ii) for taxable years beginning after 

18 December 31, 2005, and before January 1, 

19 2009, the mine rescue team training credit 

20 determined under section 45N(a).’’. 

21 (d) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 280C of such 

22 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

23 subsection: 

24 ‘‘(e) MINE RESCUE TEAM TRAINING CREDIT.—No 

25 deduction shall be allowed for that portion of the expenses 
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1 otherwise allowable as a deduction for the taxable year 

2 which is equal to the amount of the credit determined for 

3 the taxable year under section 45N(a).’’. 

4 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

6 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45N. Mine rescue team training credit.’’. 

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

9 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

10 December 31, 2005. 

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