Sec. 2. Standards. The Department of Environmental Protection, Board of Environmental Protection shall adopt rules and standards for particulate emissions from boilers and furnace systems. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

Sec. 3. Application. That section of this Act that enacts the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 5202-D applies to income tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2005.

SUMMARY

This bill provides a credit against corporate income taxes to businesses that put into operation on or after June 1, 2005 a furnace or boiler system that burns organic material and eliminates nitrogen oxides without increasing other pollutants or reduces particulate emissions to a level that is 20% below standards established by the Department of Environmental Protection, Board of Environmental Protection. The credit is equal to 1.5¢ per kilowatt-hour or its equivalent in heat energy produced by the furnace or boiler system. A business with an existing boiler or furnace system placed into operation prior to June 1, 2005 may qualify for the tax credit if it modifies its boiler or furnace system to burn more cleanly, but only to the extent of the kilowatt-hours or equivalent heat energy attributable to the modification.