I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3390 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide credits for the 
production of renewable chemicals and investments in renewable chemical 
production facilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 29, 2015 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. NEAL) 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 
credits for the production of renewable chemicals and 
investments in renewable chemical production facilities, 
and for other purposes. 
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 or Investment Tax Credit Act of 
2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. CREDITS FOR PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE CHEMI-
CALS AND INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLE 
CHEMICAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES. 
(a) PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE CHEMICALS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of 
subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 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 38, the 
production credit for renewable chemicals for any taxable 
year is an amount (determined separately for each renew-
able chemical produced by the taxpayer) equal to $0.15 
per pound of biobased content of renewable chemical pro-
duced by the taxpayer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount of the credit deter-
mined under subsection (a) with respect to a renewable 
chemical produced by the taxpayer during any taxable 
year shall not exceed the credit amount allocated for pur-
poses of this section by the Secretary to the taxpayer with 
respect to such chemical for such taxable year under sec-
tion 48E(e). 
‘‘(c) BIOBASED CONTENT.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘biobased content’ means, with respect to 
any renewable chemical, the biobased content of the total 
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mass of organic carbon in 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. 
For purposes of this section, the term ‘renew-
able biomass’ has the meaning given such term 
in section 9001(13) of the Farm Security and 
Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 
8101(13)); 
‘‘(B) is sold, or used, by the taxpayer— 
‘‘(i) for the production of chemical 
products, polymers, plastics, or formulated 
products, or 
‘‘(ii) as chemicals, polymers, plastics, 
or formulated products; 
‘‘(C) the biobased content percentage of 
which is 95 percent or higher; 
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‘‘(D) is the product of, or reliant upon, bi-
ological conversion, thermal conversion, or a 
combination of biological and thermal conver-
sion, of renewable biomass; 
‘‘(E) is not sold or used for the production 
of any food, feed, or fuel; 
‘‘(F) is not a combination of renewable 
chemicals on the list under subparagraph (G) 
(or added to the list under paragraph (2)) for 
which a credit has been taken under this sec-
tion or section 48E; and 
‘‘(G) is included on the following list of re-
newable chemicals eligible for credit: acetic acid; 
acrylic acid; acyl glutamate; adipic acid; algae 
oils; algae sugars; aromatics; 1,4-butanediol 
(BDO); iso-butanol; n-butanol; carboxylic acids; 
cellulosic sugar; diethyl methylene malonate; 
ethyl acetate; farnesene; gamma-butyrolactone; 
hexamethylenediamine (HMD); 3-hydroxy pro-
pionic acid; glucaric acid; C10 hydrocarbons; 
isoprene; itaconic acid; ketals; levulinic acid; 
olefins; polyhydroxyalkonate (PHA); polylactic 
acid (PLA); polyitaconic acid; polyols from veg-
etable oils; poly(xylitan levulinate ketal); 1,3- 
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propanediol; 
1,2-propanediol; 
succinic 
acid; 
terpenes; thiols; p-xylene. 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL
RENEWABLE
CHEMICALS.— 
The Secretary may add chemicals to the list of re-
newable chemicals established in paragraph (1)(G). 
Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this 
section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Agriculture, shall establish a program to 
consider applications from taxpayers to add renew-
able chemicals to the list. Any chemical added to the 
list must meet the requirements set forth in sub-
paragraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(e) COORDINATION WITH INVESTMENT CREDIT FOR 
RENEWABLE CHEMICAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES.—See 
section 48E(f) for rules coordinating section 48E with this 
section. 
‘‘(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.’’. 
(2) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSI-
NESS CREDIT.—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 
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paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add-
ing at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(37) the renewable chemicals production credit 
determined under section 45S(a).’’. 
(b) INVESTMENT CREDIT IN LIEU OF PRODUCTION 
CREDIT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 46 of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(5), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
(6) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) the renewable chemical production facili-
ties credit.’’. 
(2) RENEWABLE
CHEMICAL
PRODUCTION
FA-
CILITIES CREDIT.—Subpart E of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 
inserting after section 48D the following: 
‘‘SEC. 48E. INVESTMENT CREDIT FOR RENEWABLE CHEM-
ICAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 46, the 
renewable chemical production facilities credit for any tax-
able year is an amount equal to 30 percent of the basis 
of any eligible property which is a part of a renewable 
chemical production facility placed in service by the tax-
payer during such taxable year. 
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‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount of the credit deter-
mined under subsection (a) with respect to a renewable 
chemical production facility of the taxpayer during any 
taxable year shall not exceed the credit amount allocated 
for purposes of this section by the Secretary to the tax-
payer for such taxable year under subsection (e). 
‘‘(c) RENEWABLE CHEMICAL PRODUCTION FACIL-
ITY.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘renewable chem-
ical production facility’ means a facility used to 
produce renewable chemicals— 
‘‘(A) which is owned by the taxpayer, 
‘‘(B) which is originally placed after the 
date of the enactment of this section and before 
the first day of the taxable year which begins 
6 years after the date of the enactment of this 
section, and 
‘‘(C) with respect to which— 
‘‘(i) no credit has been allowed under 
section 45S, and 
‘‘(ii) the taxpayer makes an irrev-
ocable election to have this section apply to 
such facility. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PROPERTY.—The term ‘eligible 
property’ means any property— 
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‘‘(A) which is— 
‘‘(i) tangible personal property, or 
‘‘(ii) other tangible property (not in-
cluding a building or its structural compo-
nents), 
but only if such property is used as an integral 
part of the renewable chemical production facil-
ity, and 
‘‘(B) with respect to which depreciation (or 
amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allow-
able. 
‘‘(3) RENEWABLE
CHEMICAL.—The term ‘re-
newable chemical’ has the meaning given such term 
by section 45S(d). 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 
‘‘(1) DENIAL
OF
PRODUCTION
CREDIT.—No 
credit shall be allowed under section 45S for any 
taxable year with respect to any renewable chemical 
production facility. 
‘‘(2) CERTAIN QUALIFIED PROGRESS EXPENDI-
TURES RULES MADE APPLICABLE.—Rules similar to 
the rules of subsections (c)(4) and (d) of section 46 
(as in effect on the day before the enactment of the 
Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990 shall apply for 
purposes of this section. 
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‘‘(e) NATIONAL LIMITATION ON CREDITS FOR RE-
NEWABLE CHEMICALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Ag-
riculture, shall establish a program to allocate credit 
amounts under this section and section 45S to appli-
cants 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-
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 such program, the Secretary shall 
take into consideration— 
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‘‘(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 
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 or renewable chemical 
production facility (determined without regard to 
this paragraph) exceeds the amount of the credit 
with respect to such chemical determined under this 
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ical produced by a renewable chemical production fa-
cility, a taxpayer may make an irrevocable election 
to have this section apply with respect to such facil-
ity in lieu of section 45S with respect to such renew-
able chemical. 
‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue such 
regulations or other guidance as may be necessary to carry 
out this section and section 45S. 
‘‘(h) TERMINATION.—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 en-
actment of this section.’’. 
(c) CREDITS 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 (ix) through (xi), respectively, and 
by inserting after clause (vi) the following new clauses: 
‘‘(vii) the credit determined under sec-
tion 45S, 
‘‘(viii) the credit determined under 
section 46 to the extent that such credit is 
attributable to the renewable chemical pro-
duction facilities credit under section 
48E,’’. 
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 
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(1) 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 following new 
item: 
‘‘Sec. 45S. Credit for production of renewable chemicals.’’. 
(2) The table of sections for subpart E of part 
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following new 
item: 
‘‘Sec. 48E. Investment credit for renewable chemical production facilities.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) PRODUCTION
CREDIT.—The amendments 
made by subsection (a) shall apply to renewable 
chemicals produced after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, in taxable years ending after such date. 
(2) INVESTMENT
CREDIT.—The amendments 
made by subsection (b) shall apply to renewable 
chemical production facilities placed in service after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, in taxable 
years ending after such date. 
Æ 
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