Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 8, 2018
Coal Refuse Reclamation Act
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for facilities that use coal refuse to produce electricity. The credit is equal to $12 per ton of coal refuse used at a coal refuse facility to produce electricity at the facility during the 10-year period beginning on January 1, 2018.
To qualify for the credit, the facility must have been originally placed in service prior to January 1, 2018, and combust coal refuse or fuel composed of at least 75% coal refuse by BTU energy value. The facility must also use: (1) at a minimum, a circulating fluidized bed combustion unit or a pressurized fluidized bed combustion unit equipped with a limestone injection system, for control of acid gases; and (2) a fabric filter particulate emission control system.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
The bill defines "coal refuse" as any waste coal, rock, shale, slurry, culm, gob, boney, slate, clay and related materials associated with or near a coal seam that are either brought aboveground or otherwise removed from a coal mine in the process of mining coal or that are separated from coal during the cleaning or preparation operations. The term includes underground development wastes, coal processing wastes and excess spoil, but does not include overburden from surface mining activities.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze H.R.4977 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine H.R.4977 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine H.R.4977 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine H.R.4977 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.