[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5372 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5372

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow a special depreciation 
              allowance for reuse and recycling property.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2008

  Ms. Bean (for herself and Mr. Sires) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow a special depreciation 
              allowance for reuse and recycling property.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Recycling Investment Saves Energy'' 
or the ``RISE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Recycling means business in the United States, with 
        more than 56,000 reuse and recycling establishments that employ 
        over 1,100,000 people, generating an annual payroll of nearly 
        $37,000,000,000, and grossing over $236,000,000,000 in annual 
        revenues. In 2005, recycling scrap materials accounted for 
        $15,700,000,000 in exports for the United States. On a per-ton 
        basis, sorting and processing recyclables alone sustain 10 
        times more jobs than landfilling or incineration.
            (2) By reducing the need to extract and process virgin raw 
        materials into manufacturing feedstock, reuse and recycling 
        helps achieve significant energy savings. For example:
                    (A) Taken together, the amount of energy wasted 
                from not recycling aluminum and steel cans, paper, 
                printed materials, glass, and plastic equals the annual 
                output of 15 medium sized power plants.
                    (B) The reuse of 500 steel drums per week yields 6 
                trillion Btu's per year, which is enough energy savings 
                to power a city the size of Colorado Springs, Colorado, 
                for 1 year.
            (3) Unfortunately, the United States recycling rate of many 
        consumer commodities, including aluminum, glass, and plastic, 
        are stagnant or declining, and businesses that rely on recycled 
        feedstock are finding it difficult to obtain the quantity and 
        quality of recycled materials needed. Increasingly, United 
        States manufacturing facilities that rely on recycled feedstock 
        are closing or forced to re-tool to use virgin materials.
            (4) The environmental impacts from reuse and recycling are 
        significant. Increased reuse and recycling would produce 
        significant environmental benefits, such as cleaner air, safer 
        water, and reduced production costs. For example:
                    (A) Between 2 and 5 percent of the waste stream is 
                reusable. Reuse prevents waste creation and adverse 
                impacts from disposal.
                    (B) On a per-ton basis, recycling of: office paper 
                prevents 60 pounds of air pollutants from being 
                released, saves 7,000 gallons of water, and 3.3 cubic 
                yards of landfill space; aluminum saves 10 cubic yards 
                of landfill space; plastic saves 30 cubic yards of 
                landfill space; glass prevents 7.5 pounds of air 
                pollutants from being released and saves 2 cubic yards 
                of landfill space; and steel saves 4 cubic yards of 
                landfill space.
                    (C) The manufacture of 100 percent recycled 
                paperboard products uses significantly less fossil fuel 
                than comparable products and is therefore a net reducer 
                of greenhouse gases. And, for every 100 tons of 
                recycled paperboard produced, 105 tons of material is 
                prevented from going to the landfill, thus reducing 
                landfill gases.
            (5) A national investment in the reuse and recycling 
        industries is needed to preserve and expand America's reuse and 
        recycling infrastructure.

SEC. 3. SPECIAL DEPRECIATION ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN REUSE AND RECYCLING 
              PROPERTY.

    (a) In General.--Section 168 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to accelerated cost recovery system) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection:
    ``(l) Special Allowance for Certain Reuse and Recycling Property.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of any qualified reuse and 
        recycling property--
                    ``(A) the depreciation deduction provided by 
                section 167(a) for the taxable year in which such 
                property is placed in service shall include an 
                allowance equal to 50 percent of the adjusted basis of 
                the qualified reuse and recycling property, and
                    ``(B) the adjusted basis of the qualified reuse and 
                recycling property shall be reduced by the amount of 
                such deduction before computing the amount otherwise 
                allowable as a depreciation deduction under this 
                chapter for such taxable year and any subsequent 
                taxable year.
            ``(2) Qualified reuse and recycling property.--For purposes 
        of this subsection--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `qualified reuse and 
                recycling property' means any reuse and recycling 
                property--
                            ``(i) to which this section applies,
                            ``(ii) which has a useful life of at least 
                        5 years,
                            ``(iii) the original use of which commences 
                        with the taxpayer after December 31, 2006, and
                            ``(iv) which is--
                                    ``(I) acquired by purchase (as 
                                defined in section 179(d)(2)) by the 
                                taxpayer after December 31, 2006, but 
                                only if no written binding contract for 
                                the acquisition was in effect before 
                                January 1, 2007, or
                                    ``(II) acquired by the taxpayer 
                                pursuant to a written binding contract 
                                which was entered into after December 
                                31, 2006.
                    ``(B) Exceptions.--
                            ``(i) Alternative depreciation property.--
                        The term `qualified reuse and recycling 
                        property' shall not include any property to 
                        which the alternative depreciation system under 
                        subsection (g) applies, determined without 
                        regard to paragraph (7) of subsection (g) 
                        (relating to election to have system apply).
                            ``(ii) Election out.--If a taxpayer makes 
                        an election under this clause with respect to 
                        any class of property for any taxable year, 
                        this subsection shall not apply to all property 
                        in such class placed in service during such 
                        taxable year.
                    ``(C) Special rule for self-constructed property.--
                In the case of a taxpayer manufacturing, constructing, 
                or producing property for the taxpayer's own use, the 
                requirements of clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) shall 
                be treated as met if the taxpayer begins manufacturing, 
                constructing, or producing the property after December 
                31, 2006.
                    ``(D) Deduction allowed in computing minimum tax.--
                For purposes of determining alternative minimum taxable 
                income under section 55, the deduction under subsection 
                (a) for qualified reuse and recycling property shall be 
                determined under this section without regard to any 
                adjustment under section 56.
            ``(3) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection--
                    ``(A) Reuse and recycling property.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `reuse and 
                        recycling property' means any machinery and 
                        equipment (not including buildings or real 
                        estate), along with all appurtenances thereto, 
                        including software necessary to operate such 
                        equipment, which is used exclusively to 
                        collect, distribute, or recycle qualified reuse 
                        and recyclable materials.
                            ``(ii) Exclusion.--Such term does not 
                        include--
                                    ``(I) rolling stock or other 
                                equipment used to transport reuse and 
                                recyclable materials, and
                                    ``(II) equipment used to produce 
                                new products or commodities from 
                                recycled products.
                    ``(B) Qualified reuse and recyclable materials.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `qualified 
                        reuse and recyclable materials' means scrap 
                        plastic, scrap glass, scrap textiles, scrap 
                        rubber, scrap packaging, recovered fiber, scrap 
                        ferrous and nonferrous metals, or electronic 
                        scrap generated by an individual or business.
                            ``(ii) Electronic scrap.--For purposes of 
                        clause (i), the term `electronic scrap' means--
                                    ``(I) any cathode ray tube, flat 
                                panel screen, or similar video display 
                                device with a screen size greater than 
                                4 inches measured diagonally, or
                                    ``(II) any central processing 
                                unit.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to property placed in service after December 31, 2006.
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