Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions (2024)

APPENDIX F

Equity and Justice Scorecard: Inflation Reduction Act Provisions

Through informed assumptions, Table F-1 seeks to quantify the benefits or impacts of federal funding authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on underserved, low-income, or disadvantaged communities. For the purposes of the following table, the committee uses the definition of “disadvantaged communities” provided by the Council for Economic Quality (CEQ): a disadvantaged community is one that is marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by environmental pollution and has other socioeconomic burdens, including low income and high employment (CEQ n.d.).

	Benefit Type	Inclusions
	Direct	Provisions with mandatory carve-outs targeting for “underserved” “low-income,” or “disadvantaged” communities” and tribal nations and communities Justice-oriented programs that acknowledge and address harms
	Indirect	Provisions with non-mandatory options for spending on “underserved,” “low-income,” or “disadvantaged” communities Provisions with unclear or unknown impacts on disadvantaged communities
	Evaluation and Assessment	Funding for research, modeling, and monitoring of the impacts of air pollution and climate change on disadvantaged communities Funding for evaluation of the impact of environmental programs on disadvantaged communities

TABLE F-1 Disadvantaged Community Benefits Scorecard for Select Inflation Reduction Act Provisions

Provision Description	Type of Benefit	Percent of Funding to Disadvantaged Communities
§13102—Investment Tax Credit for Energy Property Provides a tax credit for investment in renewable energy projects. Credit is increased by up to 10% if project is in an energy community.a (White House 2023)		Unknown Dependent on whether energy community is also a disadvantaged community
§13103—Increase in Energy Credit for Solar and Wind Facilities Placed in Service in Connection with Low-Income Communities Provides an additional investment tax credit for small-scale solar and wind facilities in low-income communities. Credit increased by 10% for facilities located in low-income communities or on tribal lands and by 20% for facilities that are part of federally subsidized housing programs or that offer at least 50% of the financial benefits to low-income households. (White House 2023)		Unknown Dependent on location of facility and distribution of benefits produced
§13301—Energy Efficiency Home Improvement Credit Provides a tax credit for energy-efficiency improvements of residential homes. (White House 2023)		Unknown Dependent on implementation and location of improved homes
§13302—Residential Clean Energy Credit Provides a tax credit for the purchase of residential clean energy equipment. (White House 2023)		Unknown Dependent on implementation and location of improved homes
§13303—Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction Provides a tax deduction for energy efficiency improvements to commercial buildings. (White House 2023)		Unknown Dependent on implementations and location of improved buildings
§13304—Extension, Increase, and Modification of New Energy-Efficient Home Credit Provides a tax credit for construction of new energy-efficient homes. (White House 2023)		Unknown Dependent implementation and location of new homes built
§13501—Advanced Energy Project Credit To provide an investment tax credit for qualified advanced energy manufacturing properties, with intentional consideration of projects that create jobs in historically underserved communities. (Jenkins et al. 2022)		Unknown Dependent on implementation and location of manufacturing properties

Provision Description	Type of Benefit	Percent of Funding to Disadvantaged Communities
§60501—Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program To award competitive grants for projects that improve walkability and safety and provide affordable transportation access and for planning and capacity building activities in disadvantaged or underserved communities. (White House 2023)		62% $1.9 billion for planning and capacity building in disadvantaged and underserved communities impacted negatively by highways or other transportation facilities
		36% $1.1 billion for projects in economically disadvantaged communities
§80001—Tribal Climate Resilience Parts (a) and (c). To support climate resilience planning to help sustain tribal ecosystems and natural and cultural resources. Part (b). To extend the life of tribal hatcheries and to support hatchery rearing and stocking programs. (White House 2023)		94% $0.22 billion for tribal climate resilience and adaptation programs
§80003—Tribal Electrification Program To provide financial and technical assistance to Indigenous communities to increase the number of tribal homes with zero-emission electricity. (White House 2023)		100%
§80004—Emergency Drought Relief for Tribes To fund drought relief actions to mitigate impacts for Indigenous communities affected by the Bureau of Reclamation water project. (White House 2023)		100%

^a The IRA defines an “energy community” as (1) a brownfield site, as defined by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980; (2) a metropolitan statistical area or non-metropolitan statistical are that has 0.17 percent or greater direct employment or 25 percent or greater local tax revenues related to the coal, oil, or natural gas industry and has en unemployment rate at or above the national average unemployment rate for the previous year; or (3) a census tract, or directly adjoining census tract, in which a coal mine has closed after 1999 or in which a coal-fired electric generating unit has been retired after 2009 (NETL n.d.).

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