II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 373 

To facilitate and expedite direct refunds to coal producers and exporters 

of the excise tax unconstitutionally imposed on coal exported from the 

United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2007 

Mr. BUNNING (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To facilitate and expedite direct refunds to coal producers 

and exporters of the excise tax unconstitutionally imposed on coal exported from the United States. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SPECIAL RULES FOR REFUND OF THE COAL EX4 CISE TAX TO CERTAIN COAL PRODUCERS 

5 AND EXPORTERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsections 

7 (a)(1) and (c) of section 6416 and section 6511 of the 

8 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, if— 


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1 (1) a coal producer establishes that such coal 

2 producer, or a party related to such coal producer, 

3 exported coal produced by such coal producer to a 

4 foreign country or shipped coal produced by such 

5 coal producer to a possession of the United States, 

6 the export or shipment of which was other than 

7 through an exporter, or an exporter establishes that 

8 such exporter exported coal to a foreign country or 

9 shipped coal to a possession of the United States, or 

10 caused such coal to be so exported or shipped, 

11 (2) such coal producer or exporter filed a re12 turn on or after October 1, 1990, and on or before 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

14 (3) such coal producer or exporter files a claim 

15 for refund not later than the close of the 30-day pe16 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this 

17 Act, 

18 then the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to such coal 

19 producer an amount equal to the tax paid under section 

20 4121 of such Code on such coal exported by the coal pro21 ducer or a party related to such coal producer, or to such 

22 exporter in an amount equal to $0.825 per ton of such 

23 coal exported by the exporter or such coal that the ex24 porter caused to be exported. This section applies only to 


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1 claims on coal exported on or after October 1, 1990, 

2 through the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (b) LIMITATIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply 

4 with respect to exported coal if a credit or refund of tax 

5 imposed by section 4121 of such Code on such coal has 

6 been allowed or made to, or if a settlement with the Fed7 eral Government has been made with and accepted by, the 

8 coal producer, a party related to such coal producer or 

9 the exporter, of such coal, as of the date that the claim 

10 is filed under this section with respect to such exported 

11 coal. For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘settlement 

12 with the Federal Government’’ shall not include any settle13 ment or stipulation entered into as of the date of the en14 actment of this Act, the terms of which contemplate a 

15 judgment concerning which any party has reserved the 

16 right to file an appeal, or has filed an appeal. 

17 (c) SUBSEQUENT REFUND PROHIBITED.—No refund 

18 shall be made under this section to the extent that a credit 

19 or refund of such tax on such exported coal has been paid 

20 to any person. 

21 (d) COAL PRODUCER DEFINED.—For purposes of 

22 this section, the term ‘‘coal producer’’ means the person 

23 in whom is vested ownership of the coal immediately after 

24 the coal is severed from the ground, without regard to the 

25 existence of any contractual arrangement for the sale or 


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1 other disposition of the coal or the payment of any royal2 ties between the producer and third parties. The term in3 cludes any person who extracts coal from coal waste refuse 

4 piles or from the silt waste product which results from 

5 the wet washing (or similar processing) of coal. 

6 (e) EXPORTER DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec7 tion, the term ‘‘exporter’’ means a person, other than a 

8 coal producer, who does not have a contract, fee arrange9 ment, or any other agreement with a producer or seller 

10 of such coal to sell or export such coal to a third party 

11 on behalf of the producer or seller of such coal and— 

12 (1) is indicated in the shipper’s export declara13 tion or other documentation as the exporter of 

14 record, or 

15 (2) actually exported such coal to a foreign 

16 country or shipped such coal to a possession of the 

17 United States, or caused such coal to be so exported 

18 or shipped. 

19 (f) RELATED PARTY DEFINED.—For purposes of 

20 this section, the term ‘‘a party related to such coal pro21 ducer’’ means a person who— 

22 (1) is related to such coal producer through any 

23 degree of common management, stock ownership, or 

24 voting control, 


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1 (2) is related (within the meaning of section 

2 144(a)(3) of such Code) to such coal producer, or 

3 (3) has a contract, fee arrangement, or any 

4 other agreement with such coal producer to sell such 

5 coal to a third party on behalf of such coal producer. 

6 (g) TIMING OF REFUND.—With respect to any claim 

7 for refund filed pursuant to this section, the Secretary of 

8 the Treasury shall determine whether the requirements of 

9 this section are met not later than 180 days after such 

10 claim is filed. If the Secretary determines that the require11 ments of this section are met, the claim for refund shall 

12 be paid not later than 180 days after the Secretary makes 

13 such determination. 

14 (h) INTEREST.—Any refund paid pursuant to this 

15 section shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury with 

16 interest from the date of overpayment determined by using 

17 the overpayment rate and method under section 6621 of 

18 such Code. 

19 (i) STANDING NOT CONFERRED.— 

20 (1) EXPORTERS.—With respect to exporters, 

21 this section shall not confer standing upon an ex22 porter to commence, or intervene in, any judicial or 

23 administrative proceeding concerning a claim for re24 fund by a coal producer of any Federal or State tax, 

25 fee, or royalty paid by the coal producer. 


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1 (2) COAL PRODUCERS.—With respect to coal 

2 producers, this section shall not confer standing 

3 upon a coal producer to commence, or intervene in, 

4 any judicial or administrative proceeding concerning 

5 a claim for refund by an exporter of any Federal or 

6 State tax, fee, or royalty paid by the producer and 

7 alleged to have been passed on to an exporter. 

Æ 


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