II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2899 

To amend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the 

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for the development 

of solar energy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 17, 2009 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

of 2009 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 

provide incentives for the development of solar energy. 

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 ‘‘Renewable Energy In5 centive Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF GRANTS FOR SPECIFIED ENERGY 

2 PROPERTY IN LIEU OF TAX CREDITS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 1603 of 

4 division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

5 Act of 2009 is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2009 or 

7 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012’’, 

8 and 

9 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘after 2010’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘after 2012’’, and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘2009 or 2010’’ and in13 serting ‘‘2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (j) of 

15 section 1603 of division B of such Act is amended by strik16 ing ‘‘2011’’ and inserting ‘‘2013’’. 

17 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF GRANTS FOR SPECIFIED ENERGY 

18 PROPERTY IN LIEU OF TAX CREDITS. 

19 (a) GRANTS ALLOWED FOR CERTAIN GOVERN20 MENTAL UNITS.—Paragraph (1) of section 1603(g) of di21 vision B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

22 of 2009 is amended by inserting ‘‘other than a govern23 mental unit which is a State utility with a service obliga24 tion (as such terms are defined in section 217 of the Fed25 eral Power Act),’’ after ‘‘thereof),’’. 


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1 (b) GRANTS ALLOWED FOR PUBLIC POWER.—Para2 graph (3) section 1603(g) of division B of such Act is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (4) of section 54(j)’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 54(j)(4)’’. 

5 (c) NO GRANTS FOR PROPERTY FOR WHICH CREBS

6 HAVE BEEN ISSUED.—Section 1603 of division B of such 

7 Act, as amended by section 2, is amended by redesignating 

8 subsections (h), (i), and (j) as subsections (i), (j), and (k), 

9 respectively, and by inserting after subsection (g) the fol10 lowing new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(h) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS.—The 

12 Secretary of the Treasury shall not make any grant under 

13 this section to any governmental unit with respect to any 

14 specified energy property described in subsection (d)(1) if 

15 such entity has issued any bond— 

16 ‘‘(1) which is designated as a clean renewable 

17 energy bond under section 54 of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986 or as a new clean renewable en19 ergy bond under section 54C of such Code, and 

20 ‘‘(2) the proceeds of which are used for expend21 itures in connection with the same qualified facility 

22 with respect to which such specified energy property 

23 is a part.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 4. CREDIT FOR QUALIFIED SOLAR MANUFACTURING 

5 PROJECT PROPERTY. 

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

7 48(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (vi), by inserting 

9 ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (vii), and by inserting after 

10 clause (vii) the following new clause: 

11 ‘‘(viii) qualified solar manufacturing 

12 project property,’’. 

13 (b) CREDIT PERCENTAGE.—Subclause (II) of section 

14 48(a)(2)(A)(i) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘para15 graph (3)(A)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (i) or (viii) of para16 graph (3)(A)’’. 

17 (c) QUALIFIED SOLAR MANUFACTURING PROP18 ERTY.—Section 48(c) of such Code is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED SOLAR MANUFACTURING

21 PROJECT PROPERTY.—The term ‘qualified solar 

22 manufacturing project property’ means any tangible 

23 personal property (not including a building or its 

24 structural components) purchased to re-equip, ex25 pand, or establish a manufacturing facility for the 


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1 production of property described in subsection 

2 (a)(3)(A)(i), but only if such property is used as an 

3 integral part of the production process. Such term 

4 shall not include any property if such property has 

5 been certified for a credit under section 48C.’’. 

6 (d) PROPERTY ELIGIBLE FOR GRANT.—Subsection 

7 (d) of section 1603 of division B of the American Recovery 

8 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is amended by inserting 

9 after paragraph (8) the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(9) QUALIFIED SOLAR MANUFACTURING

11 PROJECT PROPERTY.—Any qualified solar manufac12 turing project property (as defined in section 

13 48(c)(5) of such Code).’’. 

14 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

16 subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall apply to periods 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, under 

18 rules similar to the rules of section 48(m) of the In19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (as in effect on the day 

20 before the date of the enactment of the Revenue 

21 Reconciliation Act of 1990). 

22 (2) GRANTS.—The amendment made by sub23 section (d) shall apply to property placed in service 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. CREDIT FOR HIGH SOLARITY DISTURBED PRIVATE 

2 LAND CONSOLIDATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 45R. HIGH SOLARITY DISTURBED PRIVATE LAND 

8 CONSOLIDATION CREDIT. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 

10 high solarity disturbed private land consolidation credit 

11 for any taxable year is an amount equal to 30 percent 

12 of any amounts paid during the taxable year to purchase 

13 more than 2 sections of contiguous high solarity disturbed 

14 private land for the purpose of consolidating the lands into 

15 a contiguous block suitable for the production of solar en16 ergy for use in a trade or business. 

17 ‘‘(b) HIGH SOLARITY DISTURBED PRIVATE LAND.— 

18 The term ‘high solarity disturbed private land’ means real 

19 property which— 

20 ‘‘(1) is located in the United States, 

21 ‘‘(2) was acquired in units that averaged less 

22 than 100 contiguous acres from any private person, 

23 ‘‘(3) is in a location identified on the July 2007 

24 Concentrating Solar Power Resources Maps pub25 lished by the National Renewable Energy Labora26 tory as— 


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1 ‘‘(A) having a solar resource of 7 kwh per 

2 square meter per year or higher, at 3 percent 

3 or less grade, and 

4 ‘‘(B) outside of a sensitive environmental 

5 or urban area, 

6 ‘‘(4) was previously disturbed either by residen7 tial or retail development, agriculture, industrial use, 

8 mining, or other mechanical disturbance, and 

9 ‘‘(5) will be primarily used for generating solar 

10 electricity from property which is described in sec11 tion 48(a)(3)(A)(i) within 5 years of the date of pur12 chase. 

13 ‘‘(c) REDUCTION IN BASIS.—If a credit is determined 

14 under this section with respect to any property by reason 

15 of expenditures described in subsection (a), the basis of 

16 such property shall be reduced by the amount of the credit 

17 so determined. 

18 ‘‘(d) PROPERTY USED BY TAX-EXEMPT PERSONS.— 

19 For purposes of this section, rules similar to the rules of 

20 paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 50(b) shall apply. 

21 ‘‘(e) RECAPTURE IN CASE OF DISPOSITION.—The 

22 Secretary shall provide for the recapture of the amount 

23 of any credit allowed under this section if the property 

24 is not used for the production of solar energy in a trade 

25 or business within 5 years of the date of purchase.’’. 


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1 (b) CREDIT ALLOWED AS BUSINESS CREDIT.—Sec2 tion 38(b) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ 

3 at the end of paragraph (34), by striking the period at 

4 the end of paragraph (35) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by 

5 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(36) the high solarity disturbed private land 

7 consolidation credit determined under section 

8 45R(a).’’. 

9 (c) BASIS ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1016(a) of such 

10 Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para11 graph (36), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 

12 (37) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(38) in the case of a facility with respect to 

15 which a credit was allowed under section 45R, to the 

16 extent provided in section 45R(c).’’. 

17 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

18 for subpart F of part IV subchapter A of chapter 1 of 

19 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by insert20 ing after the item relating to section 51 the following new 

21 item: 

‘‘Sec. 45R. High solarity disturbed private land consolidation credit.’’. 

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

23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. ENERGY CREDIT ALLOWED FOR WATER HEATERS 

2 IN POOLS LOCATED ON COMMERCIAL PROP3 ERTY. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 48(a)(3)(A)(i) of the In5 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘lo6 cated at a single family residence’’ after ‘‘swimming pool’’. 

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

8 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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