[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1839 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1839

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on 
           heavy trucks and trailers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2019

  Mr. Gardner 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 repeal the excise tax on 
           heavy trucks and trailers, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Modern, Clean, and Safe Trucks Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) there is a 12-percent Federal retail excise tax on 
        certain new heavy trucks, tractors, and trailers, coupled with 
        new regulatory mandates, significantly increasing the cost of 
        new heavy-duty trucks, tractors, and trailers, and discouraging 
        the replacement of older, less environmentally clean and less 
        fuel economical vehicles;
            (2) this 12-percent Federal retail excise tax is the 
        highest percentage rate of any Federal ad valorem excise tax;
            (3) the Federal excise tax was first levied by Congress in 
        1917 to help finance America's involvement in World War I;
            (4) the 12-percent Federal retail excise tax routinely adds 
        between $12,000 and $22,000 to the cost of a heavy truck, 
        tractor, or trailer;
            (5) the average in-use, heavy truck is 9.6 years old, close 
        to the historical all-time high;
            (6) the Environmental Protection Agency's model year 2002-
        2010 tailpipe emissions rules account for $20,000 of the 
        average price of today's new heavy-duty trucks;
            (7) according to the 2011 Environmental Protection Agency 
        and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Regulatory 
        Impact Analysis entitled ``Final Rulemaking to Establish 
        Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency 
        Standards for Medium and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles'', 
        model year 2014-2018 EPA-Department of Transportation fuel 
        economy rules will add up to approximately $6,683 to the price 
        of new heavy-duty trucks;
            (8) according to the 2016 Environmental Protection Agency 
        and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Final Rule 
        entitled ``Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency 
        Standards for Medium and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles--Phase 
        2'', model year 2021-2027 fuel economy rules will add up to 
        approximately $12,500 to the price of new heavy-duty trucks;
            (9) the $39,183 average per truck cost of these regulatory 
        mandates results in an additional $4,700 Federal excise tax, on 
        average; and
            (10) since the Federal retail excise tax on certain new 
        heavy trucks, tractors, and trailers is based on annual sales, 
        receipts from the tax deposited in the Highway Trust Fund can 
        vary greatly.

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EXCISE TAX ON HEAVY TRUCKS AND TRAILERS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 31 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by striking subchapter C (and by striking the item relating to 
such subchapter from the table of subchapters for such chapter).
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 4072(c) of such Code is amended to read as 
        follows:
    ``(c) Tires of the Type Used on Highway Vehicles.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this part, the term 
        `tires of the type used on highway vehicles' means tires of the 
        type used on--
                    ``(A) motor vehicles which are highway vehicles, or
                    ``(B) vehicles of the type used in connection with 
                motor vehicles which are highway vehicles.
            ``(2) Exception for mobile machinery.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Such term shall not include 
                tires of a type used exclusively on mobile machinery.
                    ``(B) Mobile machinery.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), the term `mobile machinery' means any 
                vehicle which consists of a chassis--
                            ``(i) to which there has been permanently 
                        mounted (by welding, bolting, riveting, or 
                        other means) machinery or equipment to perform 
                        a construction, manufacturing, processing, 
                        farming, mining, drilling, timbering, or 
                        similar operation if the operation of the 
                        machinery or equipment is unrelated to 
                        transportation on or off the public highways,
                            ``(ii) which has been specially designed to 
                        serve only as a mobile carriage and mount (and 
                        a power source, where applicable) for the 
                        particular machinery or equipment involved, 
                        whether or not such machinery or equipment is 
                        in operation, and
                            ``(iii) which, by reason of such special 
                        design, could not, without substantial 
                        structural modification, be used as a component 
                        of a vehicle designed to perform a function of 
                        transporting any load other than that 
                        particular machinery or equipment or similar 
                        machinery or equipment requiring such a 
                        specially designed chassis.''.
            (2) Section 4221 of such Code is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by striking ``(or under subchapter C of 
                        chapter 31 on the first retail sale)'', and
                            (ii) by striking ``4051 or'',
                    (B) in subsection (c), by striking ``and in the 
                case of any article sold free of tax under section 
                4053(6),'', and
                    (C) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``, and, in 
                the case of the taxes imposed by subchapter C of 
                chapter 31, includes the retailer with respect to the 
                first retail sale''.
            (3) Section 4222(d) of such Code is amended by striking 
        ``4053(6),''.
            (4) Section 4293 of such Code is amended by striking 
        ``section 4051,''.
            (5) Section 4483(g) of such Code is amended by striking 
        ``section 4053(8)'' and inserting ``section 4072(c)(2)''.
            (6) Section 6416(b)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 
        ``or under section 4051''.
            (7) Section 6416(b) of such Code is amended by striking 
        paragraph (6).
            (8) Section 9503(b)(1) of such Code is amended by striking 
        subparagraph (B) and by redesignating subparagraphs (C), (D), 
        and (E) as subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D), respectively.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to sales and installations on or after the date of the 
introduction of this Act.
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