Hoeven successfully helps secure tax support for America’s coal industry

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), who has been working to put the 45Q tax credit in place to help the nation’s coal producers, recently helped secure the final U.S. Treasury Department regulations that include extending the construction deadline to provide producers with more time to utilize the credit.

Last week, the Treasury Department announced the final 45Q rule, which includes two provisions Sen. Hoeven helped secure to benefit coal facilities, enhanced oil and gas recovery operations, and project developers in his home state of North Dakota.

Specifically, the rule includes a more flexible definition of Carbon Capture Equipment (CCE), providing broader eligibility for the tax credit, according to the senator’s office, and the rule includes a provision similar to Sen. Hoeven’s CO2 Regulatory Certainty Act, introduced in 2019, to ensure that the tax credit works for long-term storage and enhanced oil recovery.

“The 45Q tax credit is an essential revenue stream for our nation’s coal facilities, as well as oil producers and manufacturers, supporting good jobs in North Dakota and benefitting every home and business through a more resilient and reliable electricity grid,” Sen. Hoeven said on Monday. 

At the same time, the tax credit is an important part of legislators’ efforts to support the development of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies to continue utilizing its abundant coal reserves while also reducing emissions, said Sen. Hoeven. 

“That’s a win for our economy, environmental stewardship and America’s energy security,” he said.

According to his office, Sen. Hoeven also urged the president, the Treasury Department, and the U.S. Department of Energy to move the final regulations forward, and has prioritized the need to enhance both the 45Q tax credit and the 48A Advanced Coal tax credit to further support U.S. coal producers and CCUS development via his Carbon Capture Modernization Act.

The bipartisan S. 407, which Sen. Hoeven sponsored in February 2019 with lead cosponsor U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), would modernize the 48A tax credit for clean coal facilities to better support CO2 capture retrofit projects. The bill stalled in committee, as did the identical H.R. 1796, introduced in March 2019 by U.S. Reps. David McKinley (R-WV) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) in the U.S. House of Representatives.