II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1587 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow a special depreciation allowance 

for reuse and recycling property and to provide for tax-exempt financing 

of recycling equipment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2007 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. CARPER, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. KERRY, Mr. OBAMA, 

Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. LINCOLN, and Mr. BAYH) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow a special 

depreciation allowance for reuse and recycling property 

and to provide for tax-exempt financing of recycling 

equipment, 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 ‘‘Recycling Investment 

5 Saves Energy’’ or the ‘‘RISE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Senate finds the following: 


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1 (1) Recycling means business in the United 

2 States, with more than 56,000 reuse and recycling 

3 establishments that employ over 1,100,000 people, 

4 generating an annual payroll of nearly 

5 $37,000,000,000, and grossing over 

6 $236,000,000,000 in annual revenues. In 2005, re7 cycling scrap materials accounted for 

8 $15,700,000,000 in exports for the United States. 

9 On a per-ton basis, sorting and processing 

10 recyclables alone sustain 10 times more jobs than 

11 landfilling or incineration. 

12 (2) By reducing the need to extract and process 

13 virgin raw materials into manufacturing feedstock, 

14 reuse and recycling helps achieve significant energy 

15 savings. For example: 

16 (A) Taken together, the amount of energy 

17 wasted from not recycling aluminum and steel 

18 cans, paper, printed materials, glass, and plas19 tic equals the annual output of 15 medium 

20 sized power plants. 

21 (B) The reuse of 500 steel drums per week 

22 yields 6 trillion Btu’s per year, which is enough 

23 energy savings to power a city the size of Colo24 rado Springs, Colorado, for 1 year. 


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1 (3) Unfortunately, the United States recycling 

2 rate of many consumer commodities, including alu3 minum, glass, and plastic, are stagnant or declining, 

4 and businesses that rely on recycled feedstock are 

5 finding it difficult to obtain the quantity and quality 

6 of recycled materials needed. Increasingly, United 

7 States manufacturing facilities that rely on recycled 

8 feedstock are closing or forced to re-tool to use vir9 gin materials. 

10 (4) The environmental impacts from reuse and 

11 recycling are significant. Increased reuse and recy12 cling would produce significant environmental bene13 fits, such as cleaner air, safer water, and reduced 

14 production costs. For example: 

15 (A) Between 2 and 5 percent of the waste 

16 stream is reusable. Reuse prevents waste cre17 ation and adverse impacts from disposal. 

18 (B) On a per-ton basis, recycling of: office 

19 paper prevents 60 pounds of air pollutants from 

20 being released, saves 7,000 gallons of water, 

21 and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space; aluminum 

22 saves 10 cubic yards of landfill space; plastic 

23 saves 30 cubic yards of landfill space; glass pre24 vents 7.5 pounds of air pollutants from being 

25 released and saves 2 cubic yards of landfill 


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1 space; and steel saves 4 cubic yards of landfill 

2 space. 

3 (C) The manufacture of 100 percent recy4 cled paperboard products uses significantly less 

5 fossil fuel than comparable products and is 

6 therefore a net reducer of greenhouse gases. 

7 And, for every 100 tons of recycled paperboard 

8 produced, 105 tons of material is prevented 

9 from going to the landfill, thus reducing landfill 

10 gases. 

11 (5) A national investment in the reuse and re12 cycling industries is needed to preserve and expand 

13 America’s reuse and recycling infrastructure. 

14 SEC. 3. SPECIAL DEPRECIATION ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN 

15 REUSE AND RECYCLING PROPERTY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 168 of the Internal Rev17 enue Code of 1986 (relating to accelerated cost recovery 

18 system) is amended by adding at the end the following 

19 new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(l) SPECIAL ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN REUSE AND

21 RECYCLING PROPERTY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any qualified 

23 reuse and recycling property— 

24 ‘‘(A) the depreciation deduction provided 

25 by section 167(a) for the taxable year in which 


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1 such property is placed in service shall include 

2 an allowance equal to 50 percent of the ad3 justed basis of the qualified reuse and recycling 

4 property, and 

5 ‘‘(B) the adjusted basis of the qualified 

6 reuse and recycling property shall be reduced by 

7 the amount of such deduction before computing 

8 the amount otherwise allowable as a deprecia9 tion deduction under this chapter for such tax10 able year and any subsequent taxable year. 

11 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED REUSE AND RECYCLING PROP12 ERTY.—For purposes of this subsection— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

14 reuse and recycling property’ means any reuse 

15 and recycling property— 

16 ‘‘(i) to which this section applies, 

17 ‘‘(ii) which has a useful life of at least 

18 5 years, 

19 ‘‘(iii) the original use of which com20 mences with the taxpayer after December 

21 31, 2006, and 

22 ‘‘(iv) which is— 

23 ‘‘(I) acquired by purchase (as de24 fined in section 179(d)(2)) by the tax25 payer after December 31, 2006, but 


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1 only if no written binding contract for 

2 the acquisition was in effect before 

3 January 1, 2007, or 

4 ‘‘(II) acquired by the taxpayer 

5 pursuant to a written binding contract 

6 which was entered into after Decem7 ber 31, 2006. 

8 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) ALTERNATIVE DEPRECIATION

10 PROPERTY.—The term ‘qualified reuse and 

11 recycling property’ shall not include any 

12 property to which the alternative deprecia13 tion system under subsection (g) applies, 

14 determined without regard to paragraph 

15 (7) of subsection (g) (relating to election to 

16 have system apply). 

17 ‘‘(ii) ELECTION OUT.—If a taxpayer 

18 makes an election under this clause with 

19 respect to any class of property for any 

20 taxable year, this subsection shall not 

21 apply to all property in such class placed 

22 in service during such taxable year. 

23 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR SELF-CON24 STRUCTED PROPERTY.—In the case of a tax25 payer manufacturing, constructing, or proVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:26 Jun 12, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1587.IS S1587

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1 ducing property for the taxpayer’s own use, the 

2 requirements of clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) 

3 shall be treated as met if the taxpayer begins 

4 manufacturing, constructing, or producing the 

5 property after December 31, 2006. 

6 ‘‘(D) DEDUCTION ALLOWED IN COM7 PUTING MINIMUM TAX.—For purposes of deter8 mining alternative minimum taxable income 

9 under section 55, the deduction under sub10 section (a) for qualified reuse and recycling 

11 property shall be determined under this section 

12 without regard to any adjustment under section 

13 56. 

14 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub15 section— 

16 ‘‘(A) REUSE AND RECYCLING PROPERTY.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reuse 

18 and recycling property’ means any machin19 ery and equipment (not including buildings 

20 or real estate), along with all appur21 tenances thereto, including software nec22 essary to operate such equipment, which is 

23 used exclusively to collect, distribute, or re24 cycle qualified reuse and recyclable mate25 rials. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—Such term does 

2 not include rolling stock or other equip3 ment used to transport reuse and recycla4 ble materials. 

5 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED REUSE AND RECYCLABLE

6 MATERIALS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘quali8 fied reuse and recyclable materials’ means 

9 scrap plastic, scrap glass, scrap textiles, 

10 scrap rubber, scrap packaging, recovered 

11 fiber, scrap ferrous and nonferrous metals, 

12 or electronic scrap generated by an indi13 vidual or business. 

14 ‘‘(ii) ELECTRONIC SCRAP.—For pur15 poses of clause (i), the term ‘electronic 

16 scrap’ means— 

17 ‘‘(I) any cathode ray tube, flat 

18 panel screen, or similar video display 

19 device with a screen size greater than 

20 4 inches measured diagonally, or 

21 ‘‘(II) any central processing unit. 

22 ‘‘(C) RECYCLING OR RECYCLE.—The term 

23 ‘recycling’ or ‘recycle’ means that process (in24 cluding sorting) by which worn or superfluous 

25 materials are manufactured or processed into 


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1 specification grade commodities that are suit2 able for use as a replacement or substitute for 

3 virgin materials in manufacturing tangible con4 sumer and commercial products, including 

5 packaging.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

7 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

8 December 31, 2006. 

9 SEC. 4. TAX-EXEMPT BOND FINANCING OF RECYCLING FA10 CILITIES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 142 of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 (defining exempt facility bond) is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following new sub14 section: 

15 ‘‘(n) SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES.— 

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

17 (a)(6) only, the term ‘solid waste disposal facilities’ 

18 means any facility used to perform a solid waste dis19 posal function. 

20 ‘‘(2) SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FUNCTION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

22 subsection only, the term ‘solid waste disposal 

23 function’ means the collection, separation, sort24 ing, storage, treatment, disassembly, handling, 

25 or processing of solid waste in any manner deVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:26 Jun 12, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1587.IS S1587

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1 signed to dispose of the solid waste, including 

2 processing the solid waste into a useful energy 

3 source or product. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXTENT OF FUNCTION.—For pur5 poses of this subsection only, the solid waste 

6 disposal function ends at the later of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the point of final disposal of the 

8 solid waste, 

9 ‘‘(ii) immediately after the solid waste 

10 is incinerated or otherwise transformed or 

11 processed to generate heat, and the result12 ing heat is put into a form such as steam 

13 in which such heat is in fact sold or used, 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(iii) the point at which the solid 

16 waste has been converted into a material 

17 or product that can be sold in the same 

18 manner as comparable material or product 

19 produced from virgin material. 

20 ‘‘(C) FUNCTIONALLY RELATED AND SUB21 ORDINATE FACILITIES.—For purposes of this 

22 subsection only, in the case of a facility used to 

23 perform both a solid waste disposal function 

24 and another function— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the costs of the facility allocable 

2 to the solid waste disposal function are de3 termined using any reasonable method 

4 based upon facts and circumstances, and 

5 ‘‘(ii) if during the period that bonds 

6 issued as part of an issue described in sub7 section (a)(6) are outstanding with respect 

8 to any facility at least 65 percent of the 

9 materials processed in such facility are 

10 solid waste materials as measured by 

11 weight or volume, then all of the costs of 

12 the property used to perform such process 

13 are allocable to a solid waste disposal func14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(3) SOLID WASTE.—For purposes of this sub16 section only— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘solid waste’ 

18 means garbage, refuse, or discarded solid mate19 rials, including waste materials resulting from 

20 industrial, commercial, agricultural, or commu21 nity activities. 

22 ‘‘(B) GARBAGE, REFUSE OR DISCARDED

23 SOLID MATERIALS.—For purposes of subpara24 graph (A), the term ‘garbage, refuse, or dis25 carded solid materials’ means materials that are 


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1 useless, unused, unwanted, or discarded, re2 gardless of whether or not such materials have 

3 value. 

4 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘solid waste’ 

5 does not include materials in domestic sewage, 

6 pollutants in industrial or other water re7 sources, or other liquid or gaseous waste mate8 rials.’’. 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

10 this section shall apply to bonds issued before, on, or after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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