Years of hard work and persistent lobbying have paid-off for the solid waste industry. In late October, President George W. Bush signed into law a corporate tax bill (H.R. 4520) that includes a landfill gas tax-credit measure under Section 45 of the tax code. According to the legislation, landfill gas facilities placed in service between enactment of the bill and Dec. 31, 2005, are eligible for a credit equal to 0.9 cents per kilowatt hour of energy produced for a period of five years.

A similar but more expansive credit once existed under Section 29 of the tax code, but it expired in the late 1990s. The new law only applies to projects that produce electricity.

Renewable energy advocates, such as the Silver Spring, Md.-based Solid Waste Association of North America, have said they will lobby Congress in 2005 to increase both the amount of the credits and the eligibility timeframe. For related information, see pg. 2.