II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 631 

To extend certain Federal benefits and income tax provisions to energy 

generated by hydropower resources. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To extend certain Federal benefits and income tax provisions 

to energy generated by hydropower resources. 

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 ‘‘Hydropower Renew5 able Energy Development Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HYDROELECTRIC ENERGY TREATED AS RENEW7 ABLE ENERGY. 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regula9 tion, for purposes of any Federal program or standard, 

10 the term ‘‘renewable energy’’ shall include hydroelectric 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 631 IS

1 energy generated in the United States by a hydroelectric 

2 facility, including electric power produced by efficiency im3 provements and capacity additions, generation added to 

4 nonpower dams, conduits, marine and hydrokinetic re5 sources, lake taps, pumped storage facilities, and conven6 tional hydropower. 

7 SEC. 3. PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT FOR HYDROPOWER RE8 SOURCES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

10 45(c)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i), 

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

14 (ii) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

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

16 clause: 

17 ‘‘(iii) in the case of any hydropower 

18 facility described in subparagraph (D), the 

19 hydropower production from the facility for 

20 the taxable year.’’. 

21 (b) PRODUCTION.—Paragraph (8) of section 45(c) of 

22 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(D) OTHER HYDROPOWER PRODUCTION

25 FACILITIES.—For purposes of subparagraph 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 631 IS

1 (A), a facility is described in this subparagraph 

2 if such facility— 

3 ‘‘(i) is a hydroelectric dam or non4 hydroelectric dam— 

5 ‘‘(I) which is placed in service 

6 after the date of the enactment of the 

7 Hydropower Renewable Energy Devel8 opment Act of 2011, and 

9 ‘‘(II) which would be described in 

10 subparagraph (A)(i) or (C) but for the 

11 placed in service date, 

12 ‘‘(ii) is a hydroelectric facility not de13 scribed in clause (i) which has a nameplate 

14 capacity rating of less than 50 megawatts, 

15 or 

16 ‘‘(iii) is not described in clause (i) or 

17 (ii) and generates energy through the use 

18 of a lake tap or pumped storage.’’. 

19 (c) QUALIFIED FACILITIES.—Paragraph (9) of sec20 tion 45(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend21 ed to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(9) QUALIFIED HYDROPOWER FACILITY.— 

23 ‘‘(A) INCREMENTAL HYDROPOWER PRO24 DUCTION.—In the case of a facility described in 

25 subsection (c)(8), without regard to subparaVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:39 Mar 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S631.IS S631

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 631 IS

1 graph (C) or (D) thereof, which produces incre2 mental hydropower production, the term ‘quali3 fied facility’ means such facility but only to the 

4 extent of such incremental hydropower produc5 tion attributable to efficiency improvements or 

6 additions to capacity described in subsection 

7 (c)(8)(B) placed in service after August 8, 

8 2005, and before January 1, 2014. 

9 ‘‘(B) PRODUCTION FROM CERTAIN NON10 HYDROELECTRIC DAMS.—In the case of a facil11 ity described in subsection (c)(8)(C) which pro12 duces qualified hydropower production, the 

13 term ‘qualified facility’ means any such facility 

14 placed in service after August 8, 2005, and be15 fore January 1, 2014. 

16 ‘‘(C) PRODUCTION FROM OTHER HYDRO17 POWER FACILITIES.—In the case of qualified 

18 hydropower production at a facility after the 

19 date of the enactment of the Hydropower Re20 newable Energy Development Act of 2011, the 

21 term ‘qualified facility’ includes any such facil22 ity which is described in subsection (c)(8)(D). 

23 ‘‘(D) CREDIT PERIOD.—In the case of a 

24 qualified facility described in subparagraph (A), 

25 the 10-year period referred to in subsection (a) 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 631 IS

1 shall be treated as beginning on the date the ef2 ficiency improvements or additions to capacity 

3 are placed in service.’’. 

4 (d) INCREASE IN CREDIT RATE.—Subparagraph (A) 

5 of section 45(b)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

6 is amended by striking ‘‘(7), (9), or (11)’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘or (7)’’. 

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

9 this section shall apply to electricity produced after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 4. 5-YEAR ACCELERATED DEPRECIATION PERIOD FOR 

12 EQUIPMENT WHICH PRODUCES ELECTRICITY 

13 FROM MARINE RENEWABLES AND HYDRO14 POWER. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subclause (III) of section 

16 168(e)(3)(B)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

17 amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(III) is described in section 

19 45(d)(11) (without regard to any 

20 placed in service date) and converts 

21 marine and hydrokinetic renewable 

22 energy (as defined in section 

23 45(c)(10)) into useable energy,’’. 

24 (b) CONVENTIONAL HYDROPOWER.—Clause (vi) of 

25 section 168(e)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 631 IS

1 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 subclause: 

3 ‘‘(IV) is described in section 

4 45(d)(9) (without regard to any 

5 placed in service date) and has quali6 fied hydropower production (as de7 fined in section 45(c)(8)), and’’. 

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

9 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS