Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2017

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make qualified biogas property and qualified manure resource recovery property eligible for the energy credit and to permit new clean renewable energy bonds to finance qualified biogas property, and for other purposes. 1. Short Title This Act may be cited as the Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2017 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Incentives and encouragement for the conservation and appropriate handling of nutrients contained in organic matter are necessary. (2) Biogas systems will save Federal, State, and local taxpayers money by converting waste into useful products, such as fuel, fertilizer, thermal heat, feedstock for hydrogen fuel cells, and renewable chemicals. (3) Manure resource recovery systems will save Federal, State, and local taxpayers money by recovering the nutrients contained in organic matter from their source, rather than recovering the nutrients after they have entered landfills or waterways. 3. Energy Credit for Qualified Biogas Property and Qualified Manure Resource Recovery Property (a) In General Section 48(a)(3)(A) or (viii) qualified biogas property, or (ix) qualified manure resource recovery property, . (b) 30-Percent Credit Section 48(a)(2)(A)(i) of such Code is amended by striking and and (V) qualified biogas property, and (VI) qualified manure resource recovery property, and . (c) Definitions Section 48(c) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: (5) Qualified biogas property (A) In general The term qualified biogas property (i) uses anaerobic digesters, or other biological, chemical, thermal, or mechanical processes (alone or in combination), to convert biomass (as defined in section 45K(c)(3)) into a gas which consists of not less than 52 percent methane, and (ii) captures such gas for use as a fuel. (B) Inclusion of certain cleaning and conditioning equipment Such term shall include any property which cleans and conditions the gas referred to in subparagraph (A) for use as a fuel. (C) Termination No credit shall be determined under this section with respect to any qualified biogas property for any period after December 31, 2021. (6) Qualified manure resource recovery property (A) In general The term qualified manure resource recovery property (B) Inclusion of certain processing equipment Such term shall include— (i) any property which is used to recover the nutrients referred to in subparagraph (A), such as— (I) biological reactors, (II) crystallizers, (III) reverse osmosis membranes and other water purifiers, (IV) evaporators, (V) distillers, (VI) decanter centrifuges, and (VII) equipment that facilitates the process of dissolved air flotation, ammonia stripping, gasification, or ozonation, and (ii) any thermal drier which treats the nutrients recovered by the processes referred to in subparagraph (A). (C) Termination No credit shall be determined under this section with respect to any qualified manure resource recovery property for any period after December 31, 2021. . (d) Denial of Double Benefit for Qualified Biogas Property Section 45(e) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (12) Coordination with energy credit for qualified biogas property The term qualified facility . (e) Effective Date The amendments made by this section shall apply to periods after December 31, 2016, in taxable years ending after such date, under rules similar to the rules of section 48(m) of such Code (as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990). 4. New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds for Qualified Biogas Property and Qualified Manure Resource Recovery Property (a) In General Section 54C(d)(1) , a qualified biogas property (as defined in section 48(c)(5)), or a qualified manure resource recovery property (as defined in section 48(c)(6)) owned by (b) Effective Date The amendment made by this section shall apply to obligations issued after the date of the enactment of this Act. 5. Study of Biogas and Nutrient Reuse (a) In General The Secretary of the Treasury shall enter into an agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to undertake a study of biogas that addresses the following: (1) The quality of biogas, including a comparison of biogas to natural gas and the identification of any components of biogas which make biogas unsuitable for injection into existing natural gas pipelines. (2) Methods for obtaining the highest energy content in biogas, including the use of co-digestion and identifying the optimal feed mixture. (3) Recommendations for the expansion of biogas production, including an analysis of the extent to which increasing the methane content of biogas would result in the greater use of biogas and an analysis of how the expanded use of biogas could help meet the growing energy needs of the United States. (4) Methods for productive use of nutrients recovered from qualified manure resource recovery property that benefits the agricultural economy. (b) Report Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection (a).

Summary: Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow energy tax credits through 2021 for investments in: (1) qualified biogas property, or (2) qualified manure resource recovery property. The bill also permits new clean renewable energy bonds to be used for such properties. "Qualified biogas property" comprises a system that: (1) uses anaerobic digesters or other specified processes to convert biomass into a gas which is at least 52% methane, and (2) captures the gas for use as a fuel. The term includes property that cleans and conditions the gas for use as a fuel. "Qualified manure resource recovery property" comprises a system that uses specified processes to recover the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus from a non-treated digestate or animal manure by reducing or separating at least 50% of the nutrients, excluding any reductions during the incineration, storage, composting, or field application of the non-treated digestate or animal manure. The term also includes certain processing equipment. The Department of the Treasury must enter into an agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for a study of biogas and report to Congress on the study.