[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5325 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5325

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose an excise tax on 
           water use during droughts, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 1, 2023

  Mr. Gallego (for himself and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in 
  addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

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                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose an excise tax on 
           water use during droughts, 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 ``Domestic Water Protection Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. EXCISE TAX ON GROWTH OF CERTAIN WATER-INTENSIVE CROPS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter D of chapter 32 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after part I the following new 
part:

                    ``PART II--WATER-INTENSIVE CROPS

``Sec. 4171. Imposition of tax.
``Sec. 4172. Definitions.
``Sec. 4173. Special rules.

``SEC. 4171. IMPOSITION OF TAX.

    ``(a) In General.--There is hereby imposed a tax on the sale of any 
specified water intensive crop by the manufacturer, producer, or 
exporter thereof a tax of 300 percent of the price for which so sold.
    ``(b) Persons Liable for Tax.--The manufacturer, producer, or 
exporter referred to in subsection (a) shall be liable for the tax 
imposed by such subsection.
    ``(c) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate regulations for 
application of this section in a manner consistent with international 
trade agreements.

``SEC. 4172. DEFINITIONS.

    ``(a) Water-Intensive Crop.--For purposes of this part--
            ``(1) In general.--The term `water-intensive crop' means a 
        crop grown--
                    ``(A) in an area experiencing prolonged drought at 
                the time such crop is grown, and
                    ``(B) by a manufacturer, producer, or exporter 
                which is a nonresident alien individual, foreign 
                corporation, foreign government, or foreign trust.
    ``(b) Area Experiencing Prolonged Drought.--The term `area 
experiencing prolonged drought' means an area which has been identified 
by the United States Drought Monitor as experiencing severe, extreme, 
or exceptional drought lasting more than 6 months.

``SEC. 4173. SPECIAL RULES.

    ``In the case of any water-intensive crop which is manufactured or 
produced by including one or more other water-intensive crops, no tax 
shall be imposed under this section on any water-intensive crop 
contained in the resulting specified water-intensive crop if tax was 
previously imposed under this section on such water-intensive crop when 
contained in the water-intensive crop so included.''.
    (b) Drought Trust Fund.--
            (1) In general.--Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new section:

``SEC. 9512. DROUGHT TRUST FUND.

    ``(a) Creation of Trust Fund.--There is established in the Treasury 
of the United States a trust fund to be known as the `Drought Trust 
Fund', consisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited to 
such fund as provided in this section or section 9602(b).
    ``(b) Transfers to Trust Fund.--There are hereby appropriated to 
the Drought Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the taxes received in the 
Treasury under section 4171(a).
    ``(c) Expenditures.--Amounts in the Drought Trust Fund shall be 
available, as provided in appropriation Acts, for making expenditures 
to carry out the purposes of the WaterSmart Drought Response Program 
established under section 9504 of the Omnibus Public Land Management 
Act of 2009.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 4221(a) of such Code is amended by adding at 
        the end the following: ``Paragraphs (1), (4), (5), and (6) 
        shall not apply to the tax imposed under section 4171.''.
            (2) The table of parts for subchapter D of chapter 32 of 
        such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
        part I the following new item:
``Part II. Water-intensive crops.''.
            (3) The table of sections for subchapter A of chapter 98 of 
        the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
        end the following new item:

``Sec. 9512. Drought Trust Fund.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to sales after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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