09 LC
36 1380S
House
Bill 473 (COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)
By:
Representatives Harbin of the
118th,
Keen of the
179th,
Stephens of the
164th,
Ehrhart of the
36th,
Kaiser of the
59th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Part 1 of Article 1 of Chapter 23 of Title 50 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority
generally, so as to provide for grants for clean energy property for a limited
period of time from federal funds available for such purposes; to provide for
definitions; to provide for procedures, conditions, and limitations; to provide
for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Part
1 of Article 1 of Chapter 23 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority generally,
is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"50-23-21.
(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
'Authority' means the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.
(2)
'Business property' means tangible personal property that is used by a person in
connection with a business or for the production of income and is capitalized by
the person for federal income tax purposes. The term does not include, however,
a luxury passenger automobile taxable under Section 4001 of the Internal Revenue
Code or a watercraft used principally for entertainment and pleasure outings for
which no admission is charged.
(3)
'Clean energy property' includes any of the following:
(A)
Solar energy equipment that uses solar radiation as a substitute for traditional
energy for water heating, active and passive space heating and cooling,
generating electricity, distillation, desalinization, or the production of
industrial or commercial process heat, as well as related devices necessary for
collecting, storing, exchanging, conditioning, or converting solar energy to
other useful forms of energy;
(B)
Energy Star certified geothermal heat pump systems;
(C)
Energy efficient projects as follows:
(i)
LIGHTING
RETROFIT
PROJECTS.
'Lighting retrofit project' means a lighting retrofit system that employs dual
switching (ability to switch roughly half the lights off and still have fairly
uniform light distribution), delamping, daylighting, relamping, or other
controls or processes which reduce annual energy and power consumption by 30
percent compared to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air
Conditioning Engineers 2004 standard (ASHRAE 90.1.2004); and
(ii)
ENERGY
EFFICIENT
BUILDINGS.
'Energy efficient building' means for other than single-family residential
property new or retrofitted buildings that are designed, constructed, and
certified to exceed the standards set forth in the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers 2004 standard (ASHRAE 90.1.2004)
by 30 percent; and
(D)
Wind equipment required to capture and convert wind energy into electricity or
mechanical power as well as related devices that may be required for converting,
conditioning, and storing the electricity produced by wind
equipment.
(4)
'Cost' means:
(A)
In the case of clean energy property owned by a person, cost is the aggregate
funds actually invested and expended by a person to put into service the clean
energy property; and
(B)
In the case of clean energy property a person leases from another, cost is eight
times the net annual rental rate, which is the annual rental rate paid by the
person less any annual rental rate received by the person from
subrentals.
(5)
'Installation' means the year in which the clean energy property is put into
service and becomes eligible for a grant allowed by this Code
section.
(b)(1)
The authority may issue a grant to any person for the construction, purchase, or
lease of clean energy property that is placed into service in this state between
the effective date of this Code section and December 31, 2012, subject to the
provisions of this Code section.
(2)
A person that receives a grant allowed under this Code section shall not be
eligible to claim any tax credit under Code Section 48-7-29.14 or any other
grant under this Code section with respect to the same clean energy
property.
(3)
A person shall not receive a grant allowed in this Code section for clean energy
property the person leases from another unless such person obtains the lessor's
written certification that the lessor will not receive a grant under this Code
section or claim a credit under Code Section 48-7-29.14 with respect to the same
clean energy property.
(4)
Grants shall not be issued under this Code section except to effect
participation in a federal government program which authorizes the use of
federal funds for purposes of this Code section. In no event shall the total
amount of grants allowed by this Code section exceed federal funds made
available to the authority for such purposes. No funds derived from any other
sources shall be granted under this Code section.
(5)(A)
Any person seeking any grant provided for under this Code section shall submit
an application to the authority for approval of such grant. The authority shall
promulgate the forms on which the application is to be submitted. The authority
shall review such application and shall approve such application upon
determining that it meets the requirements of this Code section within 60 days
after receiving such application, subject to availability of funds as provided
by paragraph (4) of this subsection.
(B)
To apply for a grant allowed by this Code section, the person shall provide any
information required by the authority. Every person receiving a grant under
this Code section shall maintain and make available for inspection by the
authority any records that the authority considers necessary to determine and
verify the amount of the grant to which the person is entitled. The burden of
proving eligibility for a grant and the amount of the grant shall rest upon the
applicant, and no grant shall be allowed to a person that fails to maintain
adequate records or to make them available for inspection.
(C)
The authority shall issue the grants on a first come, first served basis. In no
event shall the aggregate amount of grants approved by the authority for all
applicants under this Code section exceed the limitations specified in paragraph
(4) of this subsection.
(6)
Any grant allowed by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not exceed the
following amounts:
(A)
For all types of clean energy property placed into service for any purpose other
than single family residential, the grant allowed by this subsection shall not
exceed the lesser of 35 percent of the cost of the clean energy property
described in subparagraphs (a)(3)(A) through (a)(3)(C) of this Code section or
the following grant amounts for any clean energy property:
(i)
A ceiling of $500,000.00 per installation applies to solar energy equipment for
solar electric (photovoltaic), other solar thermal electric applications, and
active space heating and wind equipment as described in subparagraphs (a)(3)(A)
and (a)(3)(D), of this Code section;
(ii)
The sum of $100,000.00 per installation applies to clean energy property related
to solar energy equipment for domestic water heating as described in
subparagraph (a)(3)(A) of this Code section which is certified for performance
by the Solar Rating Certification Corporation, Florida Solar Energy Center, or
by a comparable entity approved by the authority to have met the certification
of Solar Rating Certification Corporation OG-100 or Florida Solar Energy
Center-GO-80 for solar thermal collectors;
(iii)
For Energy Star certified geothermal heat pump systems as described in
subparagraph (a)(3)(B) of this Code section, the sum of
$100,000.00;
(iv)
For a lighting retrofit project as described in division (a)(3)(C)(i) of this
Code section, the sum of $0.60 per square foot of the building with a maximum of
$100,000.00; and
(v)
For an energy efficient building as described in division (a)(3)(C)(ii) of this
Code section, the sum of the cost of energy efficient products installed during
construction at $1.80 per square foot of the building, with a maximum of
$100,000.00; and
(B)
The following ceilings apply to clean energy property placed in service for
single family residential purposes, the lesser of 35 percent of the cost
or:
(i)
The sum of $2,500.00 per dwelling unit applies for clean energy property related
to solar energy equipment for domestic water heating as described in
subparagraph (a)(3)(A) of this Code section which is certified for performance
by the Solar Rating Certification Corporation, Florida Solar Energy Center, or
by a comparable entity approved by the authority to have met the certification
of Solar Rating Certification Corporation OG-100 or Florida Solar Energy
Center-GO-80 for solar thermal collectors, Solar Rating Certification
Corporation certification OG-300 or Florida Solar Energy Center-GP-5-80 for
solar thermal residential systems, or both;
(ii)
The sum of $10,500.00 per dwelling unit applies for clean energy property
related to solar energy equipment for solar electric (photovoltaic), other solar
thermal electric applications, and active space heating as described in
subparagraph (a)(3)(A) of this Code section, or to wind as described in
subparagraph (a)(3)(B) of this Code section; and
(iii)
The sum of $4,000.00 per installation for Energy Star certified geothermal heat
pump systems applies as described in subparagraph (a)(3)(B) of this Code
section.
(c)
The authority shall be authorized to adopt rules and regulations to provide for
the administration of any grant provided by this Code section. Specifically, the
authority shall create a mechanism to track and report the status and
availability of grants for the public to review at a minimum on a quarterly
basis.
(d)
The authority shall provide an annual report of:
(1)
The number of persons that claimed the grants allowed in this Code
section;
(2)
The cost of clean energy property with respect to which grants were
issued;
(3)
The type of clean energy property installed and the location;
(4)
A determination of associated energy and economic benefits to the state;
and
(5)
The total amount of grants
allowed."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective 30 days after the date it is approved by the Governor
or becomes law without such approval.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.