1.This Act may be cited as the
Save Our Climate Act of
2011
.
2.The Congress finds as follows:
(1)The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) has concluded that human emissions of greenhouse gases,
particularly carbon dioxide are responsible for global climate change.
(2)The IPCC has
estimated that global temperatures will rise between 3.2–7.2 degrees Fahrenheit
in the next 100 years if carbon dioxide emissions are not dramatically
reduced.
(3)An increase of
even a few degrees could have major adverse impacts on both the natural and
man-made environments, due to rising sea-levels, intensification of weather
events, mass extinction of species, and scarcity of water.
(4)The United States
is responsible for nearly 18 percent of the world’s annual carbon dioxide
emissions, equaling approximately 5.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per
year.
(5)In order to stabilize the earth’s climate
and prevent catastrophic global climate change, the level of worldwide carbon
dioxide emissions needs to be reduced 80 percent below 1990 levels by
2050.
(6)A tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels
will create incentives for investment and development of low and zero carbon
alternatives, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions and while generating
funds to reduce our deficits.
(7)Revenue from a carbon tax can reduce the
deficit. Dedicating the revenue from a $10 per ton of carbon dioxide tax could
reduce the deficit by more than $480 billion over ten years.
(8)In order to protect consumers from higher
energy prices, all carbon tax revenue not targeted for deficit reduction shall
be returned to individuals through a dividend distributed on an annual
basis.
3.Imposition of carbon
tax on primary fossil fuels
(a)Chapter 38 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
environmental taxes) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new
subchapter:
ECarbon Tax on
Primary Fossil Fuels
Sec. 4691. Imposition of tax.
4691.
(a)There is hereby imposed
a tax on any taxable fuel sold by the manufacturer, producer, or importer
thereof.
(b)
(1)The amount of tax imposed by subsection (a) on any
taxable fuel shall be an equivalent amount to $10 per ton of carbon dioxide
produced by combustion in such fuel, as determined by the Secretary in
consultation with the Secretary of Energy.
(2)Annual increase
in amount of taxFor each calendar year beginning after 2011
which is not the year after a target attainment year, paragraph (1) shall be
applied by substituting for $10
the following: the amount
in effect under this paragraph for the preceding calendar year, increased by
$10
.
(3)Rate freeze
after target attainmentFor each calendar year after a target
attainment year, the amount in effect under paragraph (1) shall be the amount
in effect under paragraph (1) for the preceding calendar year.
(4)For purposes of paragraph (2), a calendar year is
a target attainment year if the level of carbon dioxide emissions in the United
States for the calendar year does not exceed 20 percent of the level of carbon
dioxide emissions in the United States for calendar year 1990, as determined by
the Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy.
(c)For purposes of this
section, the term taxable fuel means—
(1)coal (including
lignite and peat),
(2)petroleum and any
petroleum product (as defined in section 4612(a)(3)),
(3)natural gas,
and
(4)biomass, municipal solid waste, and any
organic material other than coal, petroleum, and natural gas that is sold for
the purpose of energy production, as determined by the Secretary of
Energy,
which is
extracted, manufactured, or produced in the United States or entered into the
United States for consumption, use, or warehousing.(d)For purposes of
this section—
(1)The term United States has the meaning given
such term by section 4612(a)(4).
(2)The
term importer means the person entering the taxable fuel for
consumption, use, or warehousing.
(3)The
term ton means 2,000 pounds. In the case of any taxable fuel which
is a gas, the term ton means the amount of such gas in cubic feet
which is the equivalent of 2,000 pounds on a molecular weight basis.
(e)No
tax shall be imposed by subsection (a) on the sale or in-kind exchange of any
taxable fuel for deposit in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve established under
part B of title I of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
(f)
(1)Only 1 tax
imposed with respect to any productNo tax shall be imposed by
subsection (a) with respect to a taxable fuel if, with respect to such fuel,
the person who would be liable for such tax establishes that a prior tax
imposed by such subsection has been imposed and no refund or credit with
respect to such tax is allowed under subsection (g).
(2)In the case of a fraction of a ton, the tax imposed by
subsection (a) shall be the same fraction of the amount of such tax imposed on
a whole ton.
(3)Use and certain
exchanges by manufacturer, etc
(A)If any person manufactures, produces, or imports any taxable
fuel and uses such fuel, then such person shall be liable for tax under
subsection (a) in the same manner as if such fuel were sold by such
person.
(B)Special rules
for inventory exchanges
(i)Except as provided in this subparagraph, in any case in
which a manufacturer, producer, or importer of a taxable fuel exchanges such
fuel as part of an inventory exchange with another person—
(I)such exchange
shall not be treated as a sale, and
(II)such other person
shall, for purposes of subsection (a), be treated as the manufacturer,
producer, or importer of such fuel.
(ii)Clause (i) shall not apply to any inventory exchange
unless—
(I)both parties are
registered with the Secretary as manufacturers, producers, or importers of
taxable fuels, and
(II)the person
receiving the taxable fuel has, at such time as the Secretary may prescribe,
notified the manufacturer, producer, or importer of such person’s registration
number and the internal revenue district in which such person is
registered.
(iii)For purposes of this subparagraph, the term
inventory exchange means any exchange in which 2 persons exchange
property which is, in the hands of each person, property described in section
1221(a)(1).
(g)Refund or credit
for certain uses
(1)Manufacture or
production of another taxable fuelUnder regulations prescribed
by the Secretary, if—
(A)a tax under
subsection (a) was paid with respect to any taxable fuel, and
(B)such fuel was used
by any person in the manufacture or production of any other substance which is
a taxable fuel,
then a
credit or refund (without interest) shall be allowed, in the same manner as if
it were an overpayment of tax imposed by subsection (a), to such person in an
amount equal to the tax so paid.(2)Embedded or
sequestered carbonUnder
regulations prescribed by the Secretary, if—
(A)a tax under
subsection (a) was paid with respect to any taxable fuel,
(B)a person uses such
fuel in the manufacture or production of any substance which is not a taxable
fuel, and
(C)in the process of
such manufacture or production, carbon in such fuel is embedded or
sequestered,
then a
credit or refund (without interest) shall be allowed to such person in the same
manner as if it were an overpayment of tax imposed by subsection (a). The
amount of such credit or refund shall be an amount equal to the amount of tax
in effect under subsection (a) with respect to such fuel for the calendar year
in which such manufacture or production occurred, determined on the basis of
carbon so embedded or sequestered.(3)In
any case to which paragraph (1) or (2) applies, the amount of any such credit
or refund shall not exceed the amount of tax imposed by subsection (a) on the
taxable fuel used in such manufacture or production (or which would have been
imposed by such subsection on such other fuel but for subsection (h)).
(h)Exemption for
exports of taxable fuels
(1)
(A)No tax shall be imposed by subsection (a) on the sale by
the manufacturer or producer of any taxable fuel for export or for resale by
the purchaser to a second purchaser for export.
(B)Rules similar to the rules of section 4221(b) shall
apply for purposes of subparagraph (A).
(2)Credit or refund
where tax paid
(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), if—
(i)tax under
subsection (a) was paid with respect to any taxable fuel, and
(ii)(I)such fuel was exported
by any person, or
(II)such fuel was used as a material in the
manufacture or production of a taxable fuel which was exported by any person
and which, at the time of export, was a taxable fuel,
credit
or refund (without interest) of such tax shall be allowed or made to the person
who paid such tax.(B)No credit or refund shall be allowed or made under
subparagraph (A) unless the person who paid the tax establishes that he—
(i)has repaid or
agreed to repay the amount of the tax to the person who exported the taxable
fuel, or
(ii)has obtained the
written consent of such exporter to the allowance of the credit or the making
of the refund.
(C)Refunds directly
to exporterThe Secretary shall provide, in regulations, the
circumstances under which a credit or refund (without interest) of the tax
under subsection (a) shall be allowed or made to the person who exported the
taxable fuel, where—
(i)the person who
paid the tax waives his claim to the amount of such credit or refund,
and
(ii)the person
exporting the taxable fuel provides such information as the Secretary may
require in such regulations.
(3)The
Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the
purposes of this subsection.
(i)
(1)The Secretary shall make harmonization adjustments on the
importation of any product.
(2)In the case that taxes paid by
manufacturers and producers under this section with respect to comparable
products exceeds the sum of any similar carbon content tax imposed by a foreign
country on the imported product, plus the amount imposed under subsection (a),
the adjustment under subsection (a) shall be the imposition of a fee in the
amount the Secretary determines is equal to such excess. Such fee shall be
treated as a tax for purposes of subtitle F.
(3)In the case that any
similar carbon content tax imposed by a foreign country on the imported product
exceeds the taxes paid by manufacturers and producers under this section with
respect to comparable products, the adjustment under subsection (a) shall be a
credit or refund (without interest) in the amount the Secretary determines is
equal to such excess. Such credit or refund shall be allowed in the same manner
as if it were an overpayment of tax.
(4)The
Secretary shall issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this
subsection.
.
(b)Not later than 5 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, shall conduct a study on the
environmental, economic, and revenue impacts, and the carbon dioxide emissions
in the United States, regarding the tax imposed by subchapter E of chapter 38
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to carbon tax on primary fossil
fuels). The Secretary shall submit each study to the Committee on Ways and
Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate.
(c)The table of subchapters for chapter 38 of such Code is
amended by adding at the end thereof the following new item:
Subchapter E. Carbon tax on primary
fossil
fuels.
.
(d)The amendments made by this section shall apply to sales
after December 31, 2011.
4.Healthy Climate Trust
Fund
(a)Establishment of
trust fundSubchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code (relating to
trust fund code) is amended by adding at the end the following:
9512.Healthy
Climate Trust Fund
(a)There is established in the Treasury of the
United States a trust fund to be known as the Healthy Climate Trust
Fund
, consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated to such trust
fund as provided for in this section.
(b)There
are appropriated to the Healthy Climate Trust Fund—
(1)for calendar year
2012, amounts equivalent to the taxes received under section 6691, and
(2)for any calendar year after 2012, amounts
equivalent to the taxes received under section 6691 that are attributable to
the excess of—
(A)the rate of tax in
effect under such section for the calendar year, over
(B)$10.
(c)
(1)Such amounts as may
be necessary from the Healthy Climate Trust Fund shall be available to pay the
administrative expenses necessary to carry out this section for each year, but
not exceeding 0.50 percent of the amounts appropriated to such trust fund under
subsection (b) in such year.
(2)Consumer
Dividend PaymentsAmounts in the Healthy Climate Trust Fund not
used under paragraph (1) for any year shall be available for making consumer
dividend payments under subsection (d) before February 15 of the following
year.
(d)Payment of
Consumer Dividend
(1)From amounts made available under subsection (c)(2), the
Secretary shall make annual consumer dividend payments to each individual who
is an eligible individual for that year.
(2)Consumer
dividend paymentThe term consumer dividend payment
means the individual pro-rata share, as determined by the Secretary, of amounts
available for the year in the Healthy Climate Trust Fund under subsection
(c)(2).
(3)The term
eligible individual means, with respect to any year, any
individual with a TIN (other than a nonresident alien individual) who is
lawfully present in the United States for such month, as determined and
verified by the Secretary in consultation with any other Federal entity the
Secretary determines appropriate.
(4)Tax treatment of
paymentsAmounts paid under this subsection shall be includible
in gross income.
(e)Not later than June
1, 2013, and at least annually thereafter, the Secretary shall transmit to
Congress a report accounting for the disposition of amounts in the Healthy
Climate Trust Fund in the previous calendar year.
(f)Healthy Climate
Trust Fund WebsiteNot later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish and maintain a website
to provide the public with information on the disposition of any amounts in the
Healthy Climate Trust Fund.
(g)The
Secretary shall prescribe such regulations and other guidance as may be
necessary or appropriate to carry out this
section.
.
(b)The table of sections for subchapter A of chapter 98 of
such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
Sec. 9512. Healthy Climate Trust
Fund.
.
(c)The amendments made by this section shall take effect on
January 1, 2011.
5.Disclosure of
information
(a)Limited
disclosure of identitySubsection (l) of section 6103 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
(22)Limited
disclosure of identity information relating to consumer dividend
payments
(A)Department of
the TreasuryIndividual identity information shall, without
written request, be open to inspection by or disclosure to officers and
employees of the Department of the Treasury whose official duties require such
inspection or disclosure for purposes of section 9512(d).
(B)Commissioner of
Social SecurityThe Commissioner of Social Security shall, on
written request, disclose to officers and employees of the Department of the
Treasury individual identity information which has been disclosed to the Social
Security Administration as provided by paragraph (1) or (5).
(C)Restriction on
disclosureInformation disclosed under this paragraph shall be
disclosed only for purposes of, and to the extent necessary in, carrying out
section
9512(d).
.
(b)Section
6103(p)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking
or (21)
and inserting , (21), or (22)
.
6.The amendments made by
this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.