I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4374 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the credit for 
electricity produced from biomass, to provide credit rate parity under 
such credit, and to exclude certain unprocessed fuels from the cellulosic 
biofuel producer credit. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 16, 2009 
Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN (for herself and Mr. HERGER) 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 extend 
the credit for electricity produced from biomass, to pro-
vide credit rate parity under such credit, and to exclude 
certain unprocessed fuels from the cellulosic biofuel pro-
ducer credit. 
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 ‘‘Renewable Biomass 
Fairness Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDIT. 
Each of the following provisions of section 45(d) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to qualified 
facilities) is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 2014’’ and 
inserting ‘‘January 1, 2019’’: 
(1) Clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (2)(A) (re-
lating to closed-loop biomass facility). 
(2) Clauses (i)(I) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) 
(relating to open-loop biomass facility). 
SEC. 3. RATE PARITY FOR OPEN-LOOP AND CLOSED-LOOP 
BIOMASS FACILITIES UNDER THE RENEW-
ABLE RESOURCES TAX CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 45(b)(4)(A) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to credit rate) is 
amended by striking ‘‘(3),’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to electricity produced and sold 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. EXTENDED CREDIT PERIOD FOR CERTAIN OPEN- 
LOOP BIOMASS FACILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Clause (ii) of section 45(b)(4)(B) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘5-year period’’ and inserting ‘‘10-year period’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply with respect to electricity produced 
and sold after December 31, 2009. 
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SEC. 5. EXCLUSION OF UNPROCESSED FUELS FROM THE 
CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL PRODUCER CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (E) of section 
40(b)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 
by adding at the end the following new clause: 
‘‘(iii) EXCLUSION
OF
UNPROCESSED 
FUELS.—The term ‘cellulosic biofuel’ shall 
not include any fuel if— 
‘‘(I) more than 4 percent of such 
fuel (determined by weight) is any 
combination of water and sediment, or 
‘‘(II) the ash content of such fuel 
is more than 1 percent (determined by 
weight).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to fuels sold or used after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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