Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4024 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a tax credit for production of electricity using nuclear power. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 21, 2021 Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. KATKO, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. BROWN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. MI- CHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) 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 establish a tax credit for production of electricity using nuclear power. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Zero-Emission Nuclear 4 Power Production Credit Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. ZERO-EMISSION NUCLEAR POWER PRODUCTION 6 CREDIT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub- 8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4024 IH 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 1 section: 2 ‘‘SEC. 45U. ZERO-EMISSION NUCLEAR POWER PRODUCTION 3 CREDIT. 4 ‘‘(a) AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—For purposes of section 5 38, the zero-emission nuclear power production credit for 6 any taxable year is an amount equal to the amount by 7 which— 8 ‘‘(1) the product of— 9 ‘‘(A) 1.5 cents, multiplied by 10 ‘‘(B) the kilowatt hours of electricity— 11 ‘‘(i) produced by the taxpayer at a 12 qualified nuclear power facility, and 13 ‘‘(ii) sold by the taxpayer to an unre- 14 lated person during the taxable year, ex- 15 ceeds 16 ‘‘(2) the reduction amount for such taxable 17 year. 18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.— 19 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED NUCLEAR POWER FACILITY.— 20 For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified nu- 21 clear power facility’ means any nuclear facility— 22 ‘‘(A) which is owned by the taxpayer and 23 which uses nuclear energy to produce elec- 24 tricity, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4024 IH ‘‘(B) which is not described in section 1 168(i)(10), and 2 ‘‘(C) which is not an advanced nuclear 3 power facility, as defined in subsection (d)(1) of 4 section 45J, or which has not received an allo- 5 cation under subsection (b) of such section. 6 ‘‘(2) REDUCTION AMOUNT.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 8 section, the term ‘reduction amount’ means, 9 with respect to any qualified nuclear power fa- 10 cility for any taxable year, the amount equal to 11 the lesser of— 12 ‘‘(i) the amount determined under 13 subsection (a)(1), or 14 ‘‘(ii) the amount equal to 80 percent 15 of the excess of— 16 ‘‘(I) subject to subparagraph (B), 17 the gross receipts from any electricity 18 produced by such facility and sold to 19 an unrelated person during such tax- 20 able year, over 21 ‘‘(II) the amount equal to the 22 product of— 23 ‘‘(aa) 2.5 cents, multiplied 24 by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4024 IH ‘‘(bb) the amount deter- 1 mined under subsection 2 (a)(1)(B). 3 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN RE- 4 CEIPTS.— 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The amount de- 6 termined under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) 7 shall include any amount received by the 8 taxpayer during the taxable year with re- 9 spect to the qualified nuclear power facility 10 from a zero-emission credit program unless 11 the amount received by the taxpayer is 12 subject to reduction— 13 ‘‘(I) by the full amount of the 14 credit determined under this section, 15 or 16 ‘‘(II) by any lesser amount if 17 such amount entirely offsets the 18 amount received from a zero-emission 19 credit program. 20 ‘‘(ii) ZERO-EMISSION CREDIT PRO- 21 GRAM.—For purposes of this subpara- 22 graph, the term ‘zero-emission credit pro- 23 gram’ means any State or local govern- 24 ment program that provides payments to a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4024 IH qualified nuclear power facility for, in 1 whole or in part, the zero-emission, zero- 2 carbon, or air quality attributes of any 3 portion of the electricity produced by such 4 facility. 5 ‘‘(3) ELECTRICITY.—For purposes of this sec- 6 tion (with the exception of subsection (d)(3)), the 7 term ‘electricity’ means the energy produced by a 8 qualified nuclear power facility from the conversion 9 of nuclear fuel into electric power. 10 ‘‘(c) ELECTION FOR DIRECT PAYMENT.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxpayer 12 making an election (at such time and in such man- 13 ner as the Secretary may provide) under this sub- 14 section with respect to any portion of the credit 15 which would (without regard to this subsection) be 16 determined under subsection (a) with respect to such 17 taxpayer, such taxpayer shall be treated as making 18 a payment against the tax imposed by subtitle A for 19 the taxable year equal to the amount of such por- 20 tion. 21 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—The payment described in para- 22 graph (1) shall be treated as made on the later of 23 the due date of the return of tax for the taxable year 24 or the date on which such return is filed. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4024 IH ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME.—Gross 1 income of the taxpayer shall be determined without 2 regard to this subsection. 3 ‘‘(4) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Solely for 4 purposes of section 38, in the case of a taxpayer 5 making an election under this subsection, the credit 6 determined under subsection (a) shall be reduced by 7 the amount of the portion of such credit with respect 8 to which the taxpayer makes such election. 9 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR DI- 10 RECT PAYMENTS.—For purposes of determining eli- 11 gibility of a taxpayer for a direct payment under 12 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall have the author- 13 ity to request such information from the taxpayer as 14 the Secretary may require. 15 ‘‘(d) OTHER RULES.— 16 ‘‘(1) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—The 1.5 cent 17 amount in subsection (a)(1)(A) and the 2.5 cent 18 amount in subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii)(II)(aa) shall each 19 be adjusted by multiplying such amount by the infla- 20 tion adjustment factor (as determined under section 21 45(e)(2)) for the calendar year in which the sale oc- 22 curs. If any amount as increased under the pre- 23 ceding sentence is not a multiple of 0.1 cent, such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4024 IH amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 1 0.1 cent. 2 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES.—Rules similar to the 3 rules of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (5) of section 4 45(e) shall apply for purposes of this section. 5 ‘‘(3) PHASEOUT OF CREDIT.—If the Secretary, 6 in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the 7 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 8 Agency, determines that the annual greenhouse gas 9 emissions from electricity production in the United 10 States for a calendar year are equal to or less than 11 50 percent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions 12 from electricity production in the United States for 13 calendar year 2020, the amount of the credit deter- 14 mined under the subsection (a) shall be reduced by 15 an amount equal to the product of— 16 ‘‘(A) the amount of credit determined 17 under the subsection (a), as determined before 18 application of this paragraph, multiplied by 19 ‘‘(B) an amount (expressed as a percent- 20 age) equal to twice the percentage amount that 21 the percentage determined by the Secretary 22 pursuant to this paragraph exceeds 50 percent. 23 ‘‘(4) WAGE REQUIREMENTS.—The taxpayer 24 shall ensure, with respect to a qualified nuclear 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4024 IH power facility, that any laborers and mechanics em- 1 ployed by contractors and subcontractors in the con- 2 struction, repair, alteration, or maintenance of such 3 facility shall be paid wages at rates not less than the 4 prevailing rates for construction, alteration, or re- 5 pair of a similar character in the locality as deter- 6 mined by the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with 7 subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 8 States Code. 9 ‘‘(e) RECAPTURE.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta- 11 tion with the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary 12 of Labor, shall, by regulations, provide for recap- 13 turing the benefit of any credit allowable under sub- 14 section (a) for any taxable year if the Secretary de- 15 termines that the wage requirements described in 16 subsection (d)(4) have been violated. 17 ‘‘(2) INVESTIGATION.—Upon receipt of a com- 18 plaint or its own initiative, the Secretary, in con- 19 sultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Sec- 20 retary of Labor, shall request and review the payroll 21 records of contractors and subcontractors engaged in 22 the performance of any construction, repair, alter- 23 ation, or maintenance with respect to a qualified nu- 24 clear power facility, and interview individuals em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4024 IH ployed by such contractors and subcontractors, to 1 determine whether the requirements of paragraph 2 (1)(A) have been met. 3 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT.— 4 With respect to the administration and enforcement 5 of the standards in paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary 6 of Labor shall have the authority and functions set 7 forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 8 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of 9 title 40, United States Code. 10 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 11 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2030.’’. 12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 13 (1) Section 38(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 14 of 1986 is amended— 15 (A) in paragraph (32), by striking ‘‘plus’’ 16 at the end, 17 (B) in paragraph (33), by striking the pe- 18 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 19 (C) by adding at the end the following new 20 paragraph: 21 ‘‘(34) the zero-emission nuclear power produc- 22 tion credit determined under section 45U(a).’’. 23 (2) The table of sections for subpart D of part 24 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4024 IH amended by adding at the end the following new 1 item: 2 ‘‘Sec. 45U. Zero-emission nuclear power production credit.’’. (c) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2024, the 3 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 4 Congress a report with respect to the credits allowed for 5 qualified nuclear power facilities under section 45U of the 6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by subsection 7 (a)), which shall include— 8 (1) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the 9 credits allowed under such section in regards to en- 10 suring grid reliability while avoiding emissions of 11 carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, partic- 12 ulate matter, and hazardous air pollutants; 13 (2) a quantification of the ratepayer savings 14 achieved as a result of the credits allowed under 15 such section; and 16 (3) any recommendations to renew or expand 17 the credits allowed under such section. 18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply to 19 electricity produced and sold after December 31, 2020, in 20 taxable years beginning after such date. 21 SEC. 3. USE OF QUALIFIED APPRENTICES. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—All contractors and subcontrac- 23 tors engaged in the performance of construction, alter- 24 ation, or repair work on any applicable project shall, sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4024 IH ject to subsection (b), ensure that not less than 15 percent 1 of the total labor hours of such work be performed by 2 qualified apprentices. 3 (b) APPRENTICE-TO-JOURNEYWORKER RATIO.—The 4 requirement under subsection (a) shall be subject to any 5 applicable requirements for apprentice-to-journeyworker 6 ratios of the Department of Labor or the applicable State 7 apprenticeship agency. 8 (c) PARTICIPATION.—Each contractor and subcon- 9 tractor who employs 4 or more individuals to perform con- 10 struction, alteration, or repair work on an applicable 11 project shall employ 1 or more qualified apprentices to 12 perform such work. 13 (d) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 14 sion in this section, this section shall not apply in the case 15 of a taxpayer who— 16 (1) demonstrates a lack of availability of quali- 17 fied apprentices in the geographic area of the con- 18 struction, alteration, or repair work; and 19 (2) makes a good faith effort, and its contrac- 20 tors and subcontractors make a good faith effort, to 21 comply with the requirements of this section. 22 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 (1) APPLICABLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘applica- 24 ble project’’ means, with respect to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4024.IH H4024 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4024 IH (A) subsection (e)(7)(A)(ii) of section 30C 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 2 (B) subsection (f)(8)(A)(ii) of section 45Q 3 of such Code, 4 (C) subsection (b)(1)(A)(iv)(II) of section 5 45U of such Code, 6 (D) subsections (b)(3)(A)(iv)(II) and 7 (c)(1)(B)(ii) of section 48D of such Code, and 8 (E) subsection 9c)(1)(E)(ii) of 9 section179D of such Code, 10 any property, equipment, or facility for which a 11 credit is allowed under such sections. 12 (2) LABOR HOURS.—The term ‘‘labor hours’’— 13 (A) means the total number of hours de- 14 voted to the performance of construction, alter- 15 ation, or repair work by employees of the con- 16 tractor or subcontractor; and 17 (B) excludes any hours worked by— 18 (i) foremen; 19 (ii) superintendents; 20 (iii) owners; or 21 (iv) persons employed in a bona fide 22 executive, administrative, or professional 23 capaci [Text truncated for display. 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