1.Short title; findings;
purpose
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Home Lead Safety Tax Credit Act
of 2007
.
(b)Congress finds that:
(1)Lead is a metal
that can produce a wide range of health effects in humans when ingested.
Children are more vulnerable to lead poisoning than adults.
(2)Lead poisoning is
a serious, entirely preventable threat to a child's intelligence, behavior, and
learning.
(3)The Secretary of Health and Human Services
has established a national goal of ending childhood lead poisoning by
2010.
(4)Despite this goal, there are still
24,000,000 housing units that pose a hazard, as defined by Environmental
Protection Agency and Department of Housing and Urban Development standards,
due to conditions such as peeling paint and settled dust on floors and
windowsills that contain lead at levels above Federal safety standards.
(5)Current Federal lead abatement programs,
such as the Lead Hazard Control Grant Program of the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, only have resources sufficient to make approximately 8,800
homes lead-safe each year. In many cases, when State and local public health
departments identify a lead-poisoned child, resources are insufficient to
reduce or eliminate the hazards.
(6)Childhood lead poisoning can be
dramatically reduced by the abatement or complete removal of all lead-based
paint. Empirical studies also have shown substantial reductions in lead
poisoning when the affected properties have undergone interim control
measures
that are far less costly than abatement.
(c)The purpose of this section is to encourage
the safe removal of lead hazards from homes and thereby decrease the number of
children who suffer reduced intelligence, learning difficulties, behavioral
problems, and other health consequences due to lead-poisoning.
2.Home lead hazard
reduction activity tax credit
(a)Subpart B of part IV
of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
foreign tax credit, etc.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
30D.Home lead hazard
reduction activity
(a)There shall be allowed
as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an
amount equal to 50 percent of the lead hazard reduction activity cost paid or
incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year for each eligible dwelling
unit.
(b)The amount of the credit allowed under
subsection (a) for any eligible dwelling unit for any taxable year shall not
exceed—
(1)either—
(A)$3,000 in the case of lead hazard reduction
activity cost including lead abatement measures described in clauses (i), (ii),
(iv) and (v) of subsection (c)(1)(A), or
(B)$1,000 in the case of lead hazard reduction
activity cost including interim lead control measures described in clauses (i),
(iii), (iv), and (v) of subsection (c)(1)(A), reduced by
(2)the aggregate lead hazard reduction
activity cost taken into account under subsection (a) with respect to such unit
for all preceding taxable years.
(c)Definitions and
special rulesFor purposes of
this section:
(1)Lead hazard
reduction activity cost
(A)The term lead
hazard reduction activity cost means, with respect to any eligible
dwelling unit—
(i)the cost for a certified risk assessor to
conduct an assessment to determine the presence of a lead-based paint
hazard,
(ii)the cost for performing lead abatement
measures by a certified lead abatement supervisor, including the removal of
paint and dust, the permanent enclosure or encapsulation of lead-based paint,
the replacement of painted surfaces, windows, or fixtures, or the removal or
permanent covering of soil when lead-based paint hazards are present in such
paint, dust, or soil,
(iii)the cost for performing interim lead
control measures to reduce exposure or likely exposure to lead-based paint
hazards, including specialized cleaning, repairs, maintenance, painting,
temporary containment, ongoing monitoring of lead-based paint hazards, and the
establishment and operation of management and resident education programs, but
only if such measures are evaluated and completed by a certified lead abatement
supervisor using accepted methods, are conducted by a qualified contractor, and
have an expected useful life of more than 10 years,
(iv)the cost for a certified lead abatement
supervisor, those working under the supervision of such supervisor, or a
qualified contractor to perform all preparation, cleanup, disposal, and
clearance testing activities associated with the lead abatement measures or
interim lead control measures, and
(v)costs incurred by or on behalf of any
occupant of such dwelling unit for any relocation which is necessary to achieve
occupant protection (as defined under section 35.1345 of title 24, Code of
Federal Regulations).
(B)The term lead hazard reduction
activity cost does not include any cost to the extent such cost is
funded by any grant, contract, or otherwise by another person (or any
governmental agency).
(2)
(A)The term
eligible dwelling unit means, with respect to any taxable year,
any dwelling unit—
(i)placed in service before 1960,
(ii)located in the United States,
(iii)in which resides, for a total period of not
less than 50 percent of the taxable year, at least 1 child who has not attained
the age of 6 years or 1 woman of child-bearing age, and
(iv)each of the residents of which during such
taxable year has an adjusted gross income of less than 185 percent of the
poverty line (as determined for such taxable year in accordance with criteria
established by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget).
(B)The term dwelling
unit has the meaning given such term by section 280A(f)(1).
(3)The term
lead-based paint hazard has the meaning given such term by section
745.61 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
(4)Certified lead
abatement supervisorThe term
certified lead abatement supervisor means an individual certified
by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 745.226 of title 40,
Code of Federal Regulations, or an appropriate State agency pursuant to section
745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
(5)The term
certified inspector means an inspector certified by the
Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 745.226 of title 40, Code
of Federal Regulations, or an appropriate State agency pursuant to section
745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
(6)The term
certified risk assessor means a risk assessor certified by the
Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to section 745.226 of title 40, Code
of Federal Regulations, or an appropriate State agency pursuant to section
745.325 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations.
(7)The term
qualified contractor means any contractor who has successfully
completed a training course on lead safe work practices which has been approved
by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental
Protection Agency.
(8)Documentation
required for credit allowanceNo credit shall be allowed under subsection
(a) with respect to any eligible dwelling unit for any taxable year
unless—
(A)after lead hazard reduction activity is
complete, a certified inspector or certified risk assessor provides written
documentation to the taxpayer that includes—
(i)evidence that—
(I)the eligible dwelling unit passes the
clearance examinations required by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development under part 35 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations,
(II)the eligible dwelling unit does not contain
lead dust hazards (as defined by section 745.227(e)(8)(viii) of such title 40),
or
(III)the eligible dwelling unit meets lead
hazard evaluation criteria established under an authorized State or local
program, and
(ii)documentation showing that the lead hazard
reduction activity meets the requirements of this section, and
(B)the taxpayer files with the appropriate
State agency and attaches to the tax return for the taxable year—
(i)the documentation described in subparagraph
(A),
(ii)documentation of the lead hazard reduction
activity costs paid or incurred during the taxable year with respect to the
eligible dwelling unit, and
(iii)a statement certifying that the dwelling
unit qualifies as an eligible dwelling unit for such taxable year.
(9)The basis of any
property for which a credit is allowable under subsection (a) shall be reduced
by the amount of such credit (determined without regard to subsection
(d)).
(10)Any deduction allowable for costs taken into account in
computing the amount of the credit for lead-based paint abatement shall be
reduced by the amount of such credit attributable to such costs.
(d)Limitation
based on amount of taxThe
credit allowed under subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not exceed the
excess of—
(1)the sum of the regular tax liability (as
defined in section 26(b)) plus the tax imposed by section 55, over
(2)the sum of the credits allowable under
subpart A and sections 27, 29, 30, 30A, 30B, and 30C for the taxable
year.
(e)
(1)If the credit amount
allowable under subsection (a) for a taxable year exceeds the amount of the
limitation under subsection (d) for such taxable year (referred to as the
unused credit year
in this subsection), such excess shall be
allowed as a credit carryforward for each of the 20 taxable years following the
unused credit year.
(2)Rules similar to the rules of section 39
shall apply with respect to the credit carryforward under paragraph
(1).
.
(b)
(1)Section 1016(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by striking and
in paragraph (36), by
striking the period and inserting , and
in paragraph (37), and
by inserting at the end the following new paragraph:
(38)in the case of an eligible dwelling unit
with respect to which a credit for any lead hazard reduction activity cost was
allowed under section 30D, to the extent provided in section
30D(c)(9).
.
(2)The table of sections for subpart B of part
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 30C the following new item:
Sec. 30D. Home lead hazard
reduction
activity.
.
(c)The amendments made by
this section shall apply to lead hazard reduction activity costs incurred after
December 31, 2007, in taxable years ending after that date.