I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5856 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an investment 
tax credit for waste-to-energy facilities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 26, 2010 
Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and 
Mr. HOLT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
for an investment tax credit for waste-to-energy facilities. 
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 ‘‘Waste-to-Energy Tech-
nology Act of 2010’’. 
SEC. 2. INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT FOR WASTE TO ENERGY 
FACILITIES. 
(a) 30 PERCENT ENERGY PERCENTAGE.—Clause (i) 
of section 48(a)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
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graph (III) and by inserting after subparagraph (IV) the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) qualified waste-to-energy property, 
and’’. 
(b) ENERGY PROPERTY.—Subparagraph (A) of sec-
tion 48(a)(3) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ 
at the end of clause (vi), by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of 
clause (vii), and by inserting after clause (vii) the fol-
lowing new clause: 
‘‘(viii) qualified waste-to-energy prop-
erty,’’. 
(c) QUALIFIED WASTE-TO-ENERGY PROPERTY DE-
FINED.—Subsection (c) of section 48 of such Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(5) 
QUALIFIED
WASTE-TO-ENERGY
PROP-
ERTY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
waste-to-energy property’ means property com-
prising a system which— 
‘‘(i) uses municipal solid waste or mu-
nicipal sewage sludge as the feedstock for 
producing solid, liquid, or gas fuel, and 
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‘‘(ii) is certified by the Secretary 
under subparagraph (D)(iii) as eligible for 
a credit under this section. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term does not in-
clude any landfill facility that recirculates leach-
ate, regrades landfill surfaces to encourage run-
off to infiltrate the cells, or delays installation 
of covers longer than 18 months following the 
cell reaching more than 90 percent of its final 
grade. 
‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—The amount allowed 
as a credit for a qualified waste-to-energy prop-
erty shall not exceed the credit allocation to 
such project under subparagraph (D)(ii). 
‘‘(D) COMPETITIVE ALLOCATION OF CRED-
IT.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of enactment of 
this section, the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, shall establish a 
qualifying waste-to-energy project program 
to consider and award certifications for 
qualified investments eligible for credits 
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projects to certify under this section, the 
Secretary— 
‘‘(I) shall take into consideration 
only those projects where there is a 
reasonable expectation of commercial 
viability, and 
‘‘(II) shall take into consideration 
those projects which— 
‘‘(aa) use the least amount 
of post-consumer materials that 
could otherwise enter the recy-
cling stream, 
‘‘(bb) will provide the great-
est net impact in avoiding or re-
ducing air pollutants or anthro-
pogenic emissions of greenhouse 
gases (including lifecycle leakage 
of greenhouse gases), 
‘‘(cc) 
have 
the 
lowest 
levelized cost of generated or 
stored energy, or of measured re-
duction in energy consumption or 
greenhouse gas emission (based 
on costs of the full supply chain), 
and 
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‘‘(dd) pose the fewest risks 
(other than climate risks) to en-
vironmental and human health. 
‘‘(v) LIMITATION ON ALLOCATION.— 
No credit shall be allocated with respect to 
any qualified waste-to-energy property for 
which there is no net benefit in cumulative 
lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. 
‘‘(vi) GREENHOUSE
GAS
LEAKAGE 
FROM FACILITY.—For purposes of clause 
(iv)(II)(bb)— 
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The lifecycle 
leakage of greenhouse gases is, on a 
integrated basis, the leakage rate dur-
ing each phase multiplied by the pro-
portion of lifetime greenhouse gases 
that are released by the facility in 
that phase, which shall be based upon 
field data where that can be accom-
plished. 
‘‘(II) MATTERS INCLUDED.—In-
cluded in the lifecycle analysis shall be 
an accounting of the leakage of green-
house gases attendant upon the pro-
duction of bio-based energy from the 
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facility. Such leakage shall be deter-
mined over the longer of the entire 
lifetime the facility releases green-
house gases into the atmosphere or 
the time the facility is capable of 
doing so by virtue of the quantity of 
any residual carbon remaining after 
energy production. Leakage shall be 
accounted for during each distinct 
phase of the facility’s life, including 
the time before the gas collection sys-
tem and the final cover is installed 
and the time after funds previously 
set aside to maintain the final cover 
after the facility is closed are no 
longer available. Leakage shall be 
counted for the entire time the facility 
generates, or is capable of generating, 
greenhouse gases. 
‘‘(vii) DEFINITIONS
RELATING
TO 
GREENHOUSE
GAS
LEAKAGE.—For pur-
poses of clause (vi)— 
‘‘(I) LEAKAGE.—The term ‘leak-
age’ means the portion of the total 
greenhouse gases generated by decom-
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position of organic discards disposed 
of in the facility that are released into 
the atmosphere. 
‘‘(II) FACILITY.—A facility refers 
not only to the energy-producing ma-
chinery but also to the entire munic-
ipal solid waste landfill unit. 
‘‘(III) PHASE.—The term ‘phase’ 
means one of the time periods when 
greenhouse gases are generated at a 
facility at distinctly different rates of 
generation and rates of gas collection. 
For landfill facilities that produce 
biogas, the periods are— 
‘‘(aa) the time prior to the 
installation of active gas collec-
tion systems, 
‘‘(bb) the time after the in-
stallation of the systems but 
prior to installation of the final 
cover, 
‘‘(cc) the time after installa-
tion of the final cover but prior 
to the time that maintenance of 
the cover ends, and 
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‘‘(dd) the time after mainte-
nance of the cover ends. 
‘‘(IV) BIO-BASED ENERGY.—The 
term ‘bio-based energy’ means energy 
produced from the current decomposi-
tion of plants or animals. 
‘‘(V) INTEGRATED
BASIS.—The 
term ‘integrated basis’ means first 
multiplying the collection efficiency 
applicable for each phase of the life of 
a landfill facility by the proportion of 
the total gas over the landfill’s life 
that is generated during that phase, 
and then summing the product of the 
two for each phase to determine the 
integrated collection efficiency that re-
flects the actual lifetime collection ef-
ficiency. 
‘‘(E) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A credit shall not 
be allowed under sections 40, 40A, 45, 
48B, and 6426 with respect to any fuel 
produced at a facility with respect to which 
a credit is allowed under this section. 
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‘‘(ii) 
COORDINATION
WITH
ARRA 
GRANT.—A credit shall not be allowed 
under this section for any facility if a 
grant is made under section 1603 of the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 
with respect to such facility.’’. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (e) of 
section 45 of such Code is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(12) COORDINATION
WITH
ENERGY
CREDIT 
FOR
QUALIFIED
WASTE-TO-ENERGY
PROPERTY.— 
The term ‘qualified facility’ shall not include any fa-
cility which produces electricity from solid, gas, or 
liquid fuel produced by qualified waste-to-energy 
property (as defined in section 48(c)(5)) if a credit 
is determined under section 48 with respect to such 
property for the taxable year or any prior taxable 
year.’’. 
(e) REPORT.—After the Secretary of the Treasury, 
in consultation with the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency, has made all of the credit allo-
cation under section 48(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (as added by subsection (a)), the Secretary, 
in consultation with the Administrator, shall submit to 
Congress a report on the recipients of the energy credit 
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for qualified waste-to-energy property under section 48 of 
such Code and the effectiveness of the selection criteria 
under section 48(c)(5)(D)(iv) of such Code in selecting 
waste-to-energy projects these projects. The report shall 
also include recommendations (if any) for continuing the 
waste-to-energy credit under section 48(c) of such Code 
and, if so, at what dollar amount. The Secretary shall, 
upon making a certification of such credit under section 
48(c)(5)(D)(iii) of such Code, publicly disclose the identity 
of the applicant and the amount of the credit with respect 
to such applicant. 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to facilities placed in service in pe-
riods after the date of the enactment of this Act, in tax-
able years ending after such date, under rules similar to 
the rules of section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 (as in effect on the day before the date of the 
enactment of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990). 
Æ 
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