House Budget Reconciliation Package Includes Additional Climate Funding

With passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the bipartisan infrastructure portion of the President’s Build Back Better agenda, House Democratic Leaders now turn their attention to a packed legislative calendar for the remainder of the year, centering on passage of a massive budget reconciliation package of tax and spending provisions ranging from climate change to social services.
 
The initial $3.5 trillion plan has been pared down to more than $550 billion, which would be spent on clean energy, infrastructure, and climate resilience programs, including:

• $29 billion to support non-federal financing to deploy zero-emission technologies, including solar rooftop systems and zero-emission vehicles.
• $5 billion for grants supporting creation and implementation of state greenhouse gas air pollution reduction plans.
• $4 billion for financial assistance to support purchase and installation of advanced industrial technology that accelerates progress toward net-zero emissions.
• $3.6 billion for the Energy Department to guarantee loans with a combined principle of as much as $40 billion to reduce or sequester human-created greenhouse gas emissions.
• $3.5 billion for grants supporting domestic production of plug-in and hydrogen fuel cell electric and hybrid vehicles.
• $3 billion for direct loans supporting facilities that manufacture advanced technology vehicles, including medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, trains, boats, aircraft, and hyperloop technologies.
• $2 billion for grants and loans for new and upgraded electric transmission lines to integrate clean energy and improve the grid’s resilience. An additional $800 million would be provided for grants to facilitate siting of transmission lines.
• $1 billion for grants to states supporting electric vehicle infrastructure deployment.
• $300 billion in clean energy tax incentives, including extending the Production Tax Credit (PTC), Investment Tax Credit (ITC), individual renewable credits and creating new credits for clean electricity, zero-emission nuclear power, clean hydrogen, electric vehicles, and advanced manufacturing facilities. 
• New fees on oil and gas extraction and emissions, including a fee on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. 

Democrats hope to advance the legislation before December, followed by advancing FY 2022 appropriations legislation before a December 3rd deadline under the current temporary spending resolution.
 
For additional information on the House Budget Reconciliation package, visit: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376