[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5185 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5185
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for
qualified environmental justice programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 7, 2021
Mr. Evans (for himself and Ms. Williams of Georgia) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for
qualified environmental justice programs.
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 ``Creating Opportunities in Research
for Environmental Justice Act of 2021'' or the ``CORE Justice Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. QUALIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PROGRAM CREDIT.
(a) In General.--Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``SEC. 36C. QUALIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PROGRAMS.
``(a) Allowance of Credit.--In the case of an eligible educational
institution, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed
by this subtitle for any taxable year an amount equal to the applicable
percentage of the amounts paid or incurred by such taxpayer during such
taxable year which are necessary for a qualified environmental justice
program.
``(b) Qualified Environmental Justice Program.--For purposes of
this section--
``(1) In general.--The term `qualified environmental
justice program' means a program conducted by one or more
eligible educational institutions that is designed to address,
or improve data about, qualified environmental stressors for
the primary purpose of improving, or facilitating the
improvement of, health and economic outcomes of individuals
residing in low-income areas or areas that experience, or are
at risk of experiencing, multiple exposures to qualified
environmental stressors.
``(2) Qualified environmental stressor.--The term
`qualified environmental stressor' means, with respect to an
area, a contamination of the air, water, soil, or food with
respect to such area, or a change relative to historical norms
of the weather conditions of such area, including--
``(A) toxic pollutants (such as lead, pesticides,
or fine particulate matter) in air, soil, food, or
water,
``(B) high rates of asthma prevalence and
incidence, and
``(C) other adverse human health or environmental
effects to be determined by the Secretary.
``(c) Eligible Educational Institution.--For purposes of this
section, the term `eligible educational institution' means an
institution of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101
or 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965) that is eligible to
participate in a program under title IV of such Act.
``(d) Applicable Percentage.--For purposes of this section, the
term `applicable percentage' means--
``(1) in the case of a program involving material
participation of faculty and students of an institution
described in section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of
1965, 30 percent, and
``(2) in all other cases, 20 percent.
``(e) Credit Allocation.--
``(1) Allocation.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall allocate
credit dollar amounts under this section to eligible
educational institutions, for qualified environmental
justice programs, that--
``(i) submit applications at such time and
in such manner as the Secretary may provide,
and
``(ii) are selected by the Secretary under
subparagraph (B).
``(B) Selection criteria.--The Secretary, after
consultation with the Secretary of Energy, the
Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services, and the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency, shall select
applications on the basis of the following criteria:
``(i) The extent of participation of
faculty and students of an institution
described in section 371(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965.
``(ii) The extent of the expected effect on
the health or economic outcomes of individuals
residing in areas within the United States that
are low-income areas or areas that experience,
or are at risk of experiencing, multiple
exposures to qualified environmental stressors.
``(iii) The creation or significant
expansion of qualified environmental justice
programs.
``(2) Limitations.--
``(A) In general.--The amount of the credit
determined under this section for any taxable year to
any eligible educational institution for any qualified
environmental justice program shall not exceed the
excess of--
``(i) the credit dollar amount allocated to
such institution for such program under this
subsection, over
``(ii) the credits previously claimed by
such institution for such program under this
section.
``(B) Five-year limitation.--No amounts paid or
incurred after the 5-year period beginning on the date
a credit dollar amount is allocated to an eligible
educational institution for a qualified environmental
justice program shall be taken into account under
subsection (a) with respect to such institution for
such program.
``(C) Allocation limitation.--The total amount of
credits that may be allocated under the program shall
not exceed--
``(i) $1,000,000,000 for each of 2022,
2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, and
``(ii) $0 for each subsequent year.
``(f) Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--An eligible educational institution that
has been allocated credit dollar amounts under this section for
a qualified environmental justice project for a taxable year
shall--
``(A) make publicly available the application
submitted to the Secretary under subsection (e) with
respect to such project, and
``(B) submit an annual report to the Secretary that
describes the amounts paid or incurred for, and
expected impact of, such project.
``(2) Failure to comply.--In the case of an eligible
educations institution that has failed to comply with the
requirements of this subsection, the credit dollar amount
allocated to such institution under this section is deemed to
be $0.
``(g) Public Disclosure.--The Secretary, upon making an allocation
of credit dollar amounts under this section, shall publicly disclose--
``(1) the identity of the eligible educational institution
receiving the allocation, and
``(2) the amount of such allocation.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is amended by
inserting ``36C,'' after ``36B,''.
(2) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by inserting ``36C,'' after ``36B,''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart C 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 36B the
following new item:
``Sec. 36C. Qualified environmental justice programs.''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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