I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4953 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for the 
production of renewable chemicals. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 26, 2012 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself and Mr. BILBRAY) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
a credit for the production of renewable chemicals. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Qualifying Renewable 
Chemical Production Tax Credit Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE 
CHEMICALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
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1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 45S. CREDIT FOR PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE 
CHEMICALS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 46, the 
renewable chemicals production credit for any taxable year 
is an amount (determined separately for each renewable 
chemical produced by the taxpayer) equal to $0.15 per 
pound of eligible content of renewable chemical produced 
by the taxpayer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The credit determined under sub-
section (a) with respect to any renewable chemical pro-
duced by any taxpayer during any taxable year shall not 
exceed the credit amount allocated by the Secretary to the 
taxpayer with respect to such chemical for such taxable 
year under subsection (e). 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE CONTENT.—For purposes of this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible content’ 
means, with respect to any renewable chemical, the 
biobased content percentage of the total mass of or-
ganic carbon in such chemical. 
‘‘(2) BIOBASED CONTENT PERCENTAGE.—The 
term ‘biobased content percentage’ means, with re-
spect to any renewable chemical, the biobased con-
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tent of such chemical (expressed as a percentage) 
determined by testing representative samples using 
the American Society for Testing and Materials 
(ASTM) D6866. 
‘‘(d) RENEWABLE CHEMICAL.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘renewable chem-
ical’ means any chemical which— 
‘‘(A) is produced by the taxpayer in the 
United States (or in a territory or possession of 
the United States) from renewable biomass, 
‘‘(B) is sold, or used, by the taxpayer— 
‘‘(i) for the production of polymers, 
plastics, or formulated products, or 
‘‘(ii) as polymers, plastics, or formu-
lated products, and 
‘‘(C) is not sold or used for the production 
of any food, feed, or fuel. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term shall not in-
clude any chemical if— 
‘‘(A) the biobased content percentage of 
such chemical is less than 25 percent, 
‘‘(B) 10,000,000 pounds or more of such 
chemical was produced during calendar year 
2000 from renewable biomass, 
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‘‘(C) such chemical is not either the prod-
uct of, or reliant upon, biological conversion, 
thermal conversion, or a combination of biologi-
cal and thermal conversion, of renewable bio-
mass, or 
‘‘(D) such chemical is composed of renew-
able chemicals that are eligible for a credit 
under this section. 
‘‘(3) RENEWABLE BIOMASS.—The term ‘renew-
able biomass’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 9001(12) of the Farm Security and Rural 
Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101(12)). 
‘‘(e) ALLOCATION OF CREDIT AMOUNTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after enactment of this section, the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall 
establish a program to allocate credit amounts under 
this section to applicants for taxable years. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) AGGREGATE LIMITATION.—The total 
amount of credits that may be allocated under 
such program shall not exceed $500,000,000. 
‘‘(B) 
TAXPAYER
LIMITATION.—The 
amount of credits that may be allocated to any 
taxpayer for any taxable year under such pro-
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gram shall not exceed $25,000,000. For pur-
poses of the preceding sentence, all persons 
treated as a single employer under subsection 
(a) or (b) of section 52, or subsection (m) or 
(o) of section 414, shall be treated as one per-
son. 
‘‘(3) SELECTION
CRITERIA.—In determining 
which taxpayers to make allocations of credit 
amount under this section, the Secretary shall take 
into consideration— 
‘‘(A) the number of jobs created and main-
tained (directly and indirectly) in the United 
States (including territories and possessions of 
the United States) as result of such allocation 
during the credit period and thereafter, 
‘‘(B) the degree to which the production of 
the renewable chemical demonstrates reduced 
dependence on imported feedstocks, petroleum, 
non-renewable resources, or other fossil fuels, 
‘‘(C) the technological innovation involved 
in the production method of the renewable 
chemical, 
‘‘(D) the energy efficiency and reduction in 
lifecycle greenhouse gases of the renewable 
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chemical or of the production method of the re-
newable chemical, and 
‘‘(E) whether there is a reasonable expec-
tation of commercial viability. 
‘‘(4) REDISTRIBUTION.—If a credit amount al-
located to a taxpayer for a taxable year with respect 
to any renewable chemical (determined without re-
gard to this paragraph) exceeds the amount of the 
credit with respect to such chemical determined 
under this section on the taxpayer’s return for such 
taxable year (determined by treating the amount of 
any payment under subsection (f) as shown on the 
taxpayer’s return)— 
‘‘(A) the credit amount allocated to such 
taxpayer for such taxable year with respect to 
such renewable chemical shall be treated as 
being the amount so determined on the tax-
payer’s return, and 
‘‘(B) such excess may be reallocated by the 
Secretary consistent with the requirements of 
paragraphs (2)(B) and (3). 
‘‘(5) DISCLOSURE OF ALLOCATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall, upon making an allocation of credit 
amount under this section, publicly disclose the iden-
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tity of the applicant and the amount of the credit 
with respect to such applicant. 
‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of this section, the Secretary may not allocate any 
credit amount under this section to any taxable year which 
begins more than 5 years after the date of the enactment 
of this section.’’. 
(b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 
CREDIT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 38 
of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the 
end of paragraph (35), by striking the period at the 
end of paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(37) the renewable chemicals production credit 
determined under section 45S(a).’’. 
(2) CREDIT ALLOWABLE AGAINST ALTERNATIVE 
MINIMUM
TAX.—Subparagraph 
(B) 
of 
section 
38(c)(4) of such Code is amended by redesignating 
clauses (vii) through (ix) as clauses (viii) through 
(x), respectively, and by inserting after clause (vi) 
the following new clause: 
‘‘(vii) the credit determined under sec-
tion 45S,’’. 
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(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 45S. Credit for production of renewable chemicals.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to chemicals produced after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, in taxable years ending 
after such date. 
Æ 
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