[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1397 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1397

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an investment 
tax credit related to the production of electricity from offshore wind.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 2011

  Mr. Carper (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
Coons, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Reed, Mr. Lautenberg, and 
  Mr. Cardin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an investment 
tax credit related to the production of electricity from offshore wind.

    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 ``Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power 
Act''.

SEC. 2. QUALIFYING OFFSHORE WIND FACILITY CREDIT.

    (a) In General.--Section 46 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5), by striking 
the period at the end of paragraph (6), and by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(7) the qualifying offshore wind facility credit.''.
    (b) Amount of Credit.--Subpart E of part IV of subchapter A of 
chapter 1 is amended by inserting after section 48D the following new 
section:

``SEC. 48E. CREDIT FOR OFFSHORE WIND FACILITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 46, the qualifying 
offshore wind facility credit for any taxable year is an amount equal 
to 30 percent of the qualified investment for such taxable year with 
respect to any qualifying offshore wind facility of the taxpayer.
    ``(b) Qualified Investment.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a), the 
        qualified investment for any taxable year is the basis of 
        eligible property placed in service by the taxpayer during such 
        taxable year which is part of a qualifying offshore wind 
        facility.
            ``(2) Certain qualified progress expenditures rules made 
        applicable.--Rules similar to the rules of subsections (c)(4) 
        and (d) of section 46 (as in effect on the day before the 
        enactment of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990) shall 
        apply for purposes of this section.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Qualifying offshore wind facility.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `qualifying offshore 
                wind facility' means an offshore facility using wind to 
                produce electricity.
                    ``(B) Offshore facility.--The term `offshore 
                facility' means any facility located in the inland 
                navigable waters of the United States, including the 
                Great Lakes, or in the coastal waters of the United 
                States, including the territorial seas of the United 
                States, the exclusive economic zone of United States, 
                and the outer Continental Shelf of the United States.
            ``(2) Eligible property.--The term `eligible property' 
        means any property--
                    ``(A) which is--
                            ``(i) tangible personal property, or
                            ``(ii) other tangible property (not 
                        including a building or its structural 
                        components), but only if such property is used 
                        as an integral part of the qualifying offshore 
                        wind facility, and
                    ``(B) with respect to which depreciation (or 
                amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allowable.
    ``(d) Qualifying Credit for Offshore Wind Facilities Program.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the date of the enactment of this section, the 
                Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy 
                and the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish a 
                qualifying credit for offshore wind facilities program 
                to consider and award certifications for qualified 
                investments eligible for credits under this section to 
                qualifying offshore wind facility sponsors.
                    ``(B) Limitation.--The total amount of megawatt 
                capacity for offshore facilities with respect to which 
                credits may be allocated under the program shall not 
                exceed 3,000 megawatts.
            ``(2) Certification.--
                    ``(A) Application period.--Each applicant for 
                certification under this paragraph shall submit an 
                application containing such information as the 
                Secretary may require beginning on the date the 
                Secretary establishes the program under paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Period of issuance.--An applicant which 
                receives a certification shall have 5 years from the 
                date of issuance of the certification in order to place 
                the facility in service and if such facility is not 
                placed in service by that time period, then the 
                certification shall no longer be valid.
            ``(3) Selection criteria.--In determining which qualifying 
        offshore wind facilities to certify under this section, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) take into consideration which facilities will 
                be placed in service at the earliest date, and
                    ``(B) take into account the technology of the 
                facility that may lead to reduced industry and consumer 
                costs or expand access to offshore wind.
            ``(4) Review, additional allocations, and reallocations.--
                    ``(A) Review.--Periodically, but not later than 4 
                years after the date of the enactment of this section, 
                the Secretary shall review the credits allocated under 
                this section as of the date of such review.
                    ``(B) Additional allocations and reallocations.--
                The Secretary may make additional allocations and 
                reallocations of credits under this section if the 
                Secretary determines that--
                            ``(i) the limitation under paragraph (1)(B) 
                        has not been attained at the time of the 
                        review, or
                            ``(ii) scheduled placed-in-service dates of 
                        previously certified facilities have been 
                        significantly delayed and the Secretary 
                        determines the applicant will not meet the 
                        timeline pursuant to paragraph (2)(B).
                    ``(C) Additional program for allocations and 
                reallocations.--If the Secretary determines that 
                credits under this section are available for further 
                allocation or reallocation, but there is an 
                insufficient quantity of qualifying applications for 
                certification pending at the time of the review, the 
                Secretary is authorized to conduct an additional 
                program for applications for certification.
            ``(5) Disclosure of allocations.--The Secretary shall, upon 
        making a certification under this subsection, publicly disclose 
        the identity of the applicant and the amount of the credit with 
        respect to such applicant.
    ``(e) Denial of Double Benefit.--A credit shall not be allowed 
under this section with respect to any facility if--
            ``(1) a credit has been allowed to such facility under 
        section 45 for such taxable year or any prior taxable year,
            ``(2) a credit has been allowed with respect to such 
        facility under section 46 by reason of section 48(a) or 48C(a) 
        for such taxable or any preceding taxable year, or
            ``(3) a grant has been made with respect to such facility 
        under section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
        Act of 2009.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 49(a)(1)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (v),
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of clause 
                (vi) and inserting ``, and'', and
                    (C) by adding after clause (vi) the following new 
                clause:
                            ``(vi) the basis of any property which is 
                        part of a qualifying offshore wind facility 
                        under section 48E.''.
            (2) The table of sections for subpart E of part IV of 
        subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 48D 
        the following new item:

``48E. Credit for offshore wind facilities.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to periods after the date of the enactment of this Act, under 
rules similar to the rules of section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 
of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990).
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