America Wins Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3311 To rebuild the Nation’s infrastructure, provide a consumer rebate to the American people, assist coal country, reduce harmful pollution, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2021 Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. LYNCH) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and In- frastructure, Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, Education and Labor, Natural Resources, Science, Space, and Technology, and Financial Serv- ices, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To rebuild the Nation’s infrastructure, provide a consumer rebate to the American people, assist coal country, reduce harmful pollution, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘America Wins Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3311 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Tax on carbon dioxide content of certain substances. Sec. 3. Energy Refund Program. Sec. 4. Consumer tax rebate. SEC. 2. TAX ON CARBON DIOXIDE CONTENT OF CERTAIN 3 SUBSTANCES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 38 of the Internal Rev- 5 enue Code of 1986 (relating to environmental taxes) is 6 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 7 subchapter: 8 ‘‘Subchapter E—Tax on Carbon Dioxide 9 Content of Certain Substances 10 ‘‘Sec. 4691. Imposition of tax. ‘‘Sec. 4692. Refunds or credits. ‘‘Sec. 4693. Border adjustments. ‘‘Sec. 4694. Definitions and special rules. ‘‘SEC. 4691. IMPOSITION OF TAX. 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby imposed a tax 12 on any taxable carbon substance sold by the manufacturer, 13 producer, or importer thereof. 14 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF TAX.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of tax imposed 16 by subsection (a) on any taxable carbon substance 17 shall be the applicable amount per ton of carbon di- 18 oxide content of such substance, as determined by 19 the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of 20 Energy. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3311 IH ‘‘(2) FRACTIONAL PART OF TON.—In the case 1 of a fraction of a ton, the tax imposed by subsection 2 (a) shall be the same fraction of the amount of such 3 tax imposed on a whole ton. 4 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para- 6 graph (1), the term ‘applicable amount’ means 7 $59. 8 ‘‘(B) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the 9 case of any taxable year beginning in a calendar 10 year after 2022, the dollar amount in subpara- 11 graph (A) shall be increased by an amount 12 equal to— 13 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 14 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de- 15 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal- 16 endar year in which the taxable year be- 17 gins, determined— 18 ‘‘(I) by substituting ‘calendar 19 year 2021’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in 20 subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof, and 21 ‘‘(II) by substituting for the C– 22 CPI–U referred to section 23 1(f)(3)(A)(i) the amount that such C– 24 CPI–U would have been if the annual 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3311 IH percentage increase in C–CPI–U with 1 respect to each year after 2022 had 2 been 6 percentage points greater. 3 ‘‘(c) SUBSTANCE TAXED ONLY ONCE.—No tax shall 4 be imposed by subsection (a) with respect to a taxable car- 5 bon substance if the person who would be liable for such 6 tax establishes that a prior tax imposed by such section 7 has been imposed with respect to such product. 8 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTION FOR EXPORTS.— 9 ‘‘(1) TAX-FREE SALES.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No tax shall be im- 11 posed under subsection (a) on the sale by the 12 manufacturer or producer of any taxable carbon 13 substance for export or for resale by the pur- 14 chaser to a second purchaser for export. 15 ‘‘(B) PROOF OF EXPORT REQUIRED.— 16 Rules similar to the rules of section 4221(b) 17 shall apply for purposes of subparagraph (A). 18 ‘‘(2) CREDIT OR REFUND WHERE TAX PAID.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 20 subparagraph (B), if— 21 ‘‘(i) tax under subsection (a) was paid 22 with respect to any taxable carbon sub- 23 stance, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3311 IH ‘‘(ii)(I) such substance was exported 1 by any person, or 2 ‘‘(II) such substance was used as a 3 material in the manufacture or production 4 of a taxable carbon substance which was 5 exported by any person and which, at the 6 time of export, was a taxable carbon sub- 7 stance, 8 credit or refund (without interest) of such tax 9 shall be allowed or made to the person who paid 10 such tax. 11 ‘‘(B) CONDITION TO ALLOWANCE.—No 12 credit or refund shall be allowed or made under 13 subparagraph (A) unless the person who paid 14 the tax establishes that he— 15 ‘‘(i) has repaid or agreed to repay the 16 amount of the tax to the person who ex- 17 ported the taxable carbon substance, or 18 ‘‘(ii) has obtained the written consent 19 of such exporter to the allowance of the 20 credit or the making of the refund. 21 ‘‘(C) REFUNDS DIRECTLY TO EX- 22 PORTER.—The Secretary shall provide, in regu- 23 lations, the circumstances under which a credit 24 or refund (without interest) of the tax under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3311 IH subsection (a) shall be allowed or made to the 1 person who exported the taxable carbon sub- 2 stance, where— 3 ‘‘(i) the person who paid the tax 4 waives his claim to the amount of such 5 credit or refund, and 6 ‘‘(ii) the person exporting the taxable 7 carbon substance provides such informa- 8 tion as the Secretary may require in such 9 regulations. 10 ‘‘SEC. 4692. REFUNDS OR CREDITS. 11 ‘‘(a) SEQUESTERED CARBON.—Under regulations 12 prescribed by the Secretary, if— 13 ‘‘(1) a person uses a taxable carbon substance 14 as a feedstock so that the carbon associated with 15 such substance will not be emitted, or 16 ‘‘(2) a person captures and sequesters the car- 17 bon in a taxable carbon substance, 18 then an amount equal to the amount of tax in effect under 19 section 4691(b) with respect to such substance for the cal- 20 endar year in which such use begins shall be allowed as 21 a credit or refund (without interest) to such person in the 22 same manner as if it were an overpayment of tax imposed 23 by section 4691. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3311 IH ‘‘(b) PREVIOUSLY TAXED CARBON SUBSTANCES 1 USED TO MAKE ANOTHER TAXABLE CARBON SUB- 2 STANCE.—Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, 3 if— 4 ‘‘(1) a tax under section 4691 was paid with re- 5 spect to any taxable carbon substance, and 6 ‘‘(2) such substance was used by any person in 7 the manufacture or production of any other sub- 8 stance which is a taxable carbon substance, 9 then an amount equal to the tax so paid shall be allowed 10 as a credit or refund (without interest) to such person in 11 the same manner as if it were an overpayment of tax im- 12 posed by section 4691(a). In any case to which this para- 13 graph applies, the amount of any such credit or refund 14 shall not exceed the amount of tax imposed by section 15 4691(a) on the other taxable fuel manufactured or pro- 16 duced (or which would have been imposed by such sub- 17 section on such other fuel but for section 4691(c)). 18 ‘‘SEC. 4693. BORDER ADJUSTMENTS. 19 ‘‘(a) IMPORTS.—The Secretary shall impose a carbon 20 equivalency fee on imports of carbon-intensive goods that 21 shall be equivalent to the cost that domestic producers of 22 comparable carbon-intensive goods incur as a result of— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3311 IH ‘‘(1) taxes paid by manufacturers, producers, 1 and importers of taxable carbon substances under 2 this section, and 3 ‘‘(2) carbon equivalency fees paid by importers 4 of carbon intensive goods used in the production of 5 the comparable carbon intensive goods in question. 6 ‘‘(b) EXPORTS.—Notwithstanding the limitations of 7 section 4692, the Secretary shall allow as a credit or re- 8 fund (without interest) to the exporter of a carbon-inten- 9 sive good produced in the United States in the same man- 10 ner as if it were an overpayment of tax imposed by section 11 4691 an amount equivalent to the cost that domestic pro- 12 ducers of such carbon intensive goods incur as a result 13 of— 14 ‘‘(1) taxes paid by manufacturers, producers, 15 and importers of taxable carbon substances under 16 this section, and 17 ‘‘(2) carbon equivalency fees paid by importers 18 of carbon intensive goods used in the production of 19 the comparable carbon intensive goods in question. 20 ‘‘(c) EXPIRATION.—This section shall cease to have 21 effect at such time as and to the extent that— 22 ‘‘(1)(A) an international agreement requiring 23 countries that emit greenhouse gases and produce 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3311 IH carbon intensive goods for international markets to 1 adopt equivalent measures comes into effect, or 2 ‘‘(B) the country of export has implemented 3 equivalent measures, and 4 ‘‘(2) the actions provided for by subsections (a) 5 and (b) are no longer appropriate. 6 ‘‘SEC. 4694. DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub- 8 chapter— 9 ‘‘(1) TAXABLE CARBON SUBSTANCE.—The term 10 ‘taxable carbon substance’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) coal (including lignite and peat), 12 ‘‘(B) petroleum and any petroleum product 13 (as defined in section 4612(a)(3)), and 14 ‘‘(C) natural gas, 15 which is extracted, manufactured, or produced in the 16 United States or entered into the United States for 17 consumption, use, or warehousing. 18 ‘‘(2) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United 19 States’ has the meaning given such term by section 20 4612(a)(4). 21 ‘‘(3) IMPORTER.—The term ‘importer’ means 22 the person entering the taxable carbon substance for 23 consumption, use, or warehousing. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3311 IH ‘‘(4) TON.—The term ‘ton’ means metric tons. 1 In the case of any taxable carbon substance which 2 is a gas, the term ‘ton’ means the amount of such 3 gas in cubic feet which is the equivalent of a metric 4 ton on a molecular weight basis. 5 ‘‘(5) CARBON-INTENSIVE GOOD.—The term 6 ‘carbon-intensive good’ means a good that (as identi- 7 fied by the Secretary by rule)— 8 ‘‘(A) is a primary product, or 9 ‘‘(B) is a manufactured item in which one 10 or more primary products are inputs and the 11 cost of production of which in the United States 12 is significantly increased by this subchapter. 13 ‘‘(6) PRIMARY PRODUCT.—The term ‘primary 14 product’ means— 15 ‘‘(A) iron, steel, steel mill products (includ- 16 ing pipe and tube), aluminum, cement, glass 17 (including flat, container, and specialty glass 18 and fiberglass), pulp, paper, chemicals, or in- 19 dustrial ceramics, and 20 ‘‘(B) any other manufactured product that 21 the Secretary determines— 22 ‘‘(i) is sold for purposes of further 23 manufacture, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3311 IH ‘‘(ii) generates, in the course of the 1 manufacture of the product, direct and in- 2 direct carbon-dioxide emissions that are 3 comparable (on an emissions-per-dollar of 4 output basis) to emissions generated in the 5 manufacture or production of primary 6 products identified in subparagraph (A). 7 ‘‘(7) EQUIVALENT MEASURE.—The term ‘equiv- 8 alent measure’ means a tax or other regulatory re- 9 quirement that imposes a cost on manufacturers of 10 carbon intensive goods located outside the United 11 States approximately equal to the cost imposed by 12 section 4691 on manufacturers of comparable car- 13 bon intensive goods located in the United States. 14 ‘‘(b) USE TREATED AS SALE.—If any person manu- 15 factures, produces, or imports any taxable carbon sub- 16 stance and uses such substance, then such person shall 17 be liable for tax under section 4691 in the same manner 18 as if such substance were sold by such person. 19 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES FOR INVENTORY EX- 20 CHANGES.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this 22 paragraph, in any case in which a manufacturer, 23 producer, or importer of a taxable carbon substance 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3311.IH H3311 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3311 IH exchanges such substance as part of an inventory ex- 1 change with another person— 2 ‘‘(A) such exchange shall not be treated as 3 a sale, and 4 ‘‘(B) such other person shall, for purposes 5 of section 4691, be treated as the manufac- 6 turer, producer, or importer of such substance. 7 ‘‘(2) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.—Para- 8 graph (1) shall not apply to any inventory exchange 9 unless— 10 ‘‘(A) both parties are registered with the 11 Secretary as manufacturers, producers, or im- 12 porters of taxable carbon substances, and 13 ‘‘(B) the person receiving the taxable car- 14 bon substance has, at such time as the Sec- 15 retary may prescribe, notified the manufac- 16 turer, producer, or importer of such person’s 17 registration number and the internal revenue 18 district in which such person is registered. 19 ‘‘(3) INVENTORY EXCHANGE.—For purposes of 20 this subsection, the term ‘inventory exchange’ means 21 any exchange in which 2 persons exchange property 22 which is, in the hands of each person, property de [Text truncated for display. 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