Storm I-III: SB.8 Defending American Energy Independence Act

[Brink]

The Senate shall now vote on if to pass the Storm I-III Amendments to the Defending American Energy Independence Act. Sections in green are sections to be added. Sections in red and strikethrough are sections to be removed.

Storm 1:

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SEC. 11 Windfall Profits Tax.

(a) In general.—Subtitle E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new chapter:
“CHAPTER 56—WINDFALL PROFITS ON CRUDE OIL

“Sec. 5896. Imposition of tax.
“Sec. 5897. Definitions and special rules.

“SEC. 5896. Imposition of tax.
“(a) In general.—In addition to any other tax imposed under this title, in each calendar quarter there is hereby imposed on any covered taxpayer an excise tax at the rate determined under subsection (b) on—

“(1) each barrel of taxable crude oil extracted by the taxpayer within the United States and removed from the property of such taxpayer during the calendar quarter, and

“(2) each barrel of taxable crude oil entered into the United States during the calendar quarter by the taxpayer for consumption, use, or warehousing.

“(b) Rate of tax.—

“(1) IN GENERAL.—The rate of tax imposed by this section on any barrel of taxable crude oil for any calendar quarter is the product of—

“(A) 50 percent, and

“(B) the excess (if any) of—

“(i) the average price of a barrel of Brent crude oil over the covered calendar quarter, over

“(ii) the average price of a barrel of Brent crude oil over the period beginning on January 1, 2015, and ending on December 31, 2019.

“(2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a calendar quarter beginning in any taxable year beginning after 2026, the amount determined under paragraph (1)(B)(ii) shall be increased by an amount equal to—

“(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by

“(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable year begins, determined by substituting ‘2025’ for ‘2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.

“(B) ROUNDING.—If any dollar amount, after being increased under subparagraph (A), is not a multiple of $0.50, such dollar amount shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $0.01.

“(c) Fractional part of barrel.—In the case of a fraction of a barrel, the tax imposed by subsection (a) shall be the same fraction of the amount of such tax imposed on the whole barrel.

“SEC. 5897. Definitions and special rules.
“(a) Definitions.—For purposes of this chapter—

“(1) COVERED TAXPAYER.—

“(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered taxpayer’ means, with respect to any calendar quarter, any taxpayer if—

“(i) the average daily number of barrels of taxable crude oil extracted and imported by the taxpayer for calendar year 2019 exceeded 300,000 barrels, or

“(ii) the average daily number of barrels of taxable crude oil extracted and imported by the taxpayer for the calendar quarter exceeds 300,000.

“(B) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 shall be treated as one person for purposes of paragraph (1).

“(2) TAXABLE CRUDE OIL.—The term ‘taxable crude oil’ includes crude oil, crude oil condensates, and natural gasoline.

“(3) BARREL.—The term ‘barrel’ means 42 United States gallons.

“(4) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United States’ has the same meaning given such term under section 4612.

“(b) Withholding and deposit of tax.—The Secretary shall provide such rules as are necessary for the withholding and deposit of the tax imposed under section 5896 on any taxable crude oil.

“(c) Records and information.—Each taxpayer liable for tax under section 5896 shall keep such records, make such returns, and furnish such information (to the Secretary and to other persons having an interest in the taxable crude oil) with respect to such oil as the Secretary may by regulations prescribe.

“(d) Return of windfall profit tax.—The Secretary shall provide for the filing and the time of such filing of the return of the tax imposed under section 5896.

“(e) Regulations.—The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter.”.

(b) Clerical amendment.—The table of chapters for subtitle E of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

“Chapter 56. Windfall profit on crude oil”.
(c) Effective date.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to crude oil removed or entered after December 31, 2021, in calendar quarters ending after such date.

(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR QUARTERS DURING 2026.—In the case of any calendar quarter ending in calendar year 2026, the tax imposed under section 5896 shall not be due before March 31, 2027

Storm II:

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SEC. 12 Nuclear.

a. To help support the development and deployment of advanced nuclear technologies:

(i) The Department of Energy shall develop a regulatory structure for new public-private partnerships in new nuclear technologies, including encouraging federal power purchase agreements and advanced cost recovery;

(ii) The Department of Energy shall implement the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program to provide the nuclear community with access to the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercialization while ensuring the continued safe, reliable, and economic operation of the existing nuclear fleet, providing trustworthy private sector and academic researchers with access to DOE National Labs, federal land use for demonstration facilities, and experimental, computational, and data capabilities;

(iii) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall develop a robust technology-inclusive and risk-informed licensing process for advanced reactors, including a process of regulatory review to adapt to new advanced designs and a staged licensing process to allow components of the design to be approved separately before the whole design is finalized; 

(iv) The deployment of Small Modular Reactors shall be supported by permitting federal agencies to enter into agreements with a term of up to 30 years to purchase power produced by SMRs; facilitate the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Clinch River Site project as a pilot project for SMRs, while simultaneously providing DOE with critical energy resilience and a potential opportunity to conduct research and isotope services; and require cooperation between the DoE and the DoD to identify facilities that can benefit from hosting or having an SMR located near the facility to achieve added energy resilience; and,

(v) Nuclear power shall be defined as a “clean power”. 

b. To support the creation of an advanced fuel supply, the Secretary of Energy shall:

(i)  Establish an adequate “strategic reserve” of higher assay low-enriched fuel (HA-LEU) at an enrichment of 19.75% in order to serve the needs of the advanced reactor community in the near term. The reserve should contain at least 6MT by 2027 and at least an additional 30MT by 2030;

(ii) Develop a fast neutron test facility with a design requirement that it utilize higher assay LEU to serve as a catalyst for the early production of this material;

(iii) Immediately declare a modest amount of its current inventory of highly enriched material, currently assigned to space or Navy propulsion needs, to be surplus in order to serve as the basis for establishing the strategic reserve outlined above, and to develop a plan to replenish such materials for space or Navy propulsion needs, or to present to Congress an alternative procurement strategy; 

(iv) Determine if the current capabilities to transport HA-LEU, either in the form of UF6, metal, oxide, or in the form of fuel for advanced reactors is sufficient to meet the expected need, and if not, shall engage in a 11 program with maximum reliance on the private-sector to design and seek licensing of sufficient transport containers within 5 years;

(v) Work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Transportation to expedite the licensing of containers for UF6, metal, oxide or other forms of advanced reactor fuels; and,

(vi) Work with the NRC to expedite the process for conducting the review and approval of Category 2 security facilities, and to expedite the process for conducting the review and approval of increased enrichment of uranium. 

c. Restrictions on using export finance and development finance to support nuclear energy exports are hereby lifted, and the US shall use its influence to try to repeal such restrictions within the World Bank.

d. The Department of Energy shall produce a standardized process, with targets for review durations and appropriate security safeguards, for nuclear energy exports. 

e. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall create a regulatory process for approving consolidated interim nuclear waste storage facilities.

f. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shall conduct a study to identify what market structures best encourage grid-scale decarbonization competition while ensuring competition, low prices, and a reliable grid.

(i) In the event that a deregulated power market is found to put nuclear power at an unfair competitive disadvantage, the DoE shall be authorized to use surplus royalty payments and power sale profits to compensate for such facilities. 

Storm III:

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SEC. 13 Hydropower. 

a. To improve the retrofitting and investment rate in US Army Corps of Engineer-owned hydropower facilities, investment in such facilities will be improved by:

(i) Allowing Power Marketing Administrations selling power generated by USACE-owned hydropower facilities to charge up to market rates; 

(ii) Developing a systematic process that covers the entire USACE-owned and operated hydropower fleet to identify, analyze and fund modernization projects and to identify facilities most in need of repair and maintenance;

(iii) Allowing funds earned through the sale of power to be used for modernization and non-routine maintenance projects;

(iv) Allowing USACE to enter into public-private partnerships to modernize dams and hydropower facilities; and,

(v) Reducing USACE backlogs by reauthorizing the Water Resources Development Act and creating an automatic deauthorization process for projects specified under that act, to reduce the WRDA backlog, automatically deauthorizing any project that has not received any construction funding in the past five years unless a specific waiver is granted by the President.

b. To facilitate faster regulatory approval of hydropower projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's coordinating role shall be strengthened. 

(i) Governmental entities and Indian tribes, when considering an aspect of an application for federal authorization, must coordinate with FERC and comply with its deadlines.

(ii) Information requests required for the permitting and regulatory process shall go through, and be pooled by, the FERC. 

(iii) The FERC when deciding whether to issue a license for hydropower project works, shall give equal consideration to minimizing infringement on the useful exercise and enjoyment of property rights held by non-licensees. The licensee, in developing any recreational resource within the project boundary, shall consider private landownership as a means to encourage and facilitate private investment, increased tourism, conservation, and recreational use.

c. To approve the speed and efficiency of environmental studies for hydropower projects under the National Environmental Policy Act and related legislation:

(i) Other recent studies conducted in the region, that are still relevant and meet current standards of environmental review, may be cited by developers in seeking hydropower project approval;

(ii) Public resources shall be made available to address common questions and recurring issues that arise during hydropower licensing or relicensing; and,

(iii) Electrification of municipal water systems shall be made exempt from the environmental study process.

(d) Hydropower shall be designated as a renewable resource for the purposes of federal purchasing requirements.

Senators will have 24 hours to vote on the amendments. A simple majority is required for passage.

[Storm]

Aye on all

[Conrad]

Nay on Storm I. 

Aye on Storm II.

Aye on Storm III.

 

[Dogslife]

Yea on all

[Blake]

Aye on all

[Mikey]

Nay on Storm I. 

Aye on Storm II.

Aye on Storm III.

[Redacted]

Nay on Storm I 

Aye on Storm II 

Aye on Storm III 

[Alaskansockeyepuffs]

Aye on All

[jakeakins]

aye on all

 

[DMH]

 

Nay on Storm I

Aye on Storm II

Aye on Storm III

[Indie Voter]

Aye on all.

[Marmot Of The Marsh]

Nay on All 

[micgat]

Yea on all

[Wilbur Snyder]

Aye on all

[Atchi]

Vinachelli:

NAY on Storm I

AYE on Storm II

AYE on Storm III

[Brink]

Storm I has failed 47-53.

Storm II and III have passed 93-7. The legislation will be updated to reflect the changes.