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Note: Wind facilities commencing construction by December 31, 2020, and all other qualifying facilities commencing construction by January 1, 2018 can qualify for this credit. The value of the credit for wind steps down in 2017, 2018 and 2019. See below for more information. For all other technologies, the credit is not available for systems whose construction commenced after December 31, 2017. 

The federal renewable electricity production tax credit (PTC) is an inflation-adjusted per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) tax credit for electricity generated by qualified energy resources and sold by the taxpayer to an unrelated person during the taxable year. The duration of the credit is 10 years after the date the facility is placed in service for all facilities placed in service after August 8, 2005.

Originally enacted in 1992, the PTC has been renewed and expanded numerous times, most recently by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1 Div. B, Section 1101 & 1102) in February 2009 (often referred to as "ARRA"), the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8, Sec. 407) in January 2013, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R. 5771, Sec. 155) in December 2014, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (H.R. 2029, Sec. 301) in December 2015, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (H.R. 1892 Sec. 40409).

Amount

The tax credit amount is $0.015 per kWh in 1993 dollars for some technologies and half of that amount for others. The amount is adjusted for inflation by multiplying the tax credit amount by the inflation adjustment factor for the calendar year in which the sale occurs, rounded to the nearest 0.1 cents. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publishes the inflation adjustment factor no later than April 1 each year in the Federal Register. For 2018, the inflation adjustment factor used by the IRS is 1.5792.

Applying the inflation-adjustment factor for the 2017 calendar year, and the 20% step-down required by H.R. 2029, the production tax credit amount is as follows:

• $0.019/kWh for wind

The tax credit is phased down for wind facilities and expires for other technologies commencing construction after December 31, 2016. The phase-down for wind facilities is described as a percentage reduction in the tax credit amount described above:
 

• For wind facilities commencing construction in 2017, the PTC amount is reduced by 20%
• For wind facilities commencing construction in 2018, the PTC amount is reduced by 40%
• For wind facilities commencing construction in 2019, the PTC amount is reduced by 60%

Note that the exact amount of the production tax credit for the tax years 2017-2020 will depend on the inflation-adjustment factor used by the IRS in the respective tax years. 

Duration

The duration of the credit is 10 years after the date the facility is placed in service. Two exceptions applied to facilities placed in service more than a decade ago:

• open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation hydro, landfill gas, and municipal solid waste combustion facilities placed into service after October 22, 2004, and before enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, on August 8, 2005, were only eligible for the credit for a 5-year period, and
• open-loop biomass facilities placed in service before October 22, 2004, were eligible for the 5-year period beginning January 1, 2005.

Investment Tax Credit in Lieu of Claiming the PTC

Renewable energy facilities placed in service after 2008 and commencing construction prior to 2018 (or 2020 for wind facilities) may elect to make an irrevocable election to claim the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) in lieu of the PTC. Wind facilities making such an election will have the ITC amount reduced by the same phase-down specified above for facilities commencing construction in 2017, 2018, or 2019. 

Process for Claiming

The credit is claimed by completing Form 8835, "Renewable Electricity Production Credit," and Form 3800, "General Business Credit." For more information, contact IRS Telephone Assistance for Businesses at 1-800-829-4933.

Recent Legislative Changes

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (H.R. 2029, Sec. 301) extended both the PTC and permission for PTC-eligible facilities to claim the Investment Tax Credit in lieu of the PTC through the end of 2016 (and the end of 2019 for wind facilities). The Act also created a phase-down in the PTC amount for wind facilities commencing construction in 2017, 2018, or 2019. Prior to the legislation, enacted in December 2015, the PTC had expired December 31, 2014. The effective date is January 1, 2015, meaning any qualifying project that commenced construction at any point in 2015 is eligible to claim the PTC.

The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (H.R. 5771, Sec. 155) extended both the PTC and permission for PTC-eligible facilities to claim the Investment Tax Credit in lieu of the PTC through the end of 2014. Prior to the legislation, the PTC had expired December 31, 2013. Although not enacted until December 2014, the effective date was January 1, 2014, meaning any qualifying project that commenced construction at any point in 2014 was eligible to claim the PTC.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 revised the PTC by removing "placed in service" deadlines and replacing them with deadlines that use the commencing of construction as a basis for determining facility eligibility. It also contained language revising the definition of the term "municipal solid waste" to exclude "paper that is commonly recycled and which has been segregated from other solid waste.” The definition change for municipal solid waste applies to electricity produced and sold after the enactment date of the legislation (January 2, 2013) in taxable years ending after that date.

Determination of Commencing Construction 

To claim the PTC, construction on an eligible project must have “commenced construction” prior to January 1, 2015. The IRS has issued guidance on how it will evaluate whether construction has commenced in IRS Notices 2013-29, 2013-60, 2014-46, 2015-25, and 2016-31 (please see the full text of these notices for complete information on determining the commencing of construction). The guidelines establish two methods—a “physical work” test and a 5% safe harbor (see sections below for details)—to determine when construction has begun on a qualified facility. Meeting the criteria of either method is sufficient to demonstrate that construction has commenced. 

Both methods require that a taxpayer make continuous progress towards completion once construction has begun by meeting the Continuous Construction Test (to satisfy the Physical Work Test) or the Continuous Efforts Test (to satisfy Safe Harbor).  If a taxpayer places a facility in service during a calendar year that is no more than four calendar years after the calendar year during which construction of the facility began, the facility will be considered to satisfy the Continuity Safe Harbor

Physical Work Test

The physical work test provides that a taxpayer may establish the beginning of construction by beginning "physical work of a significant nature.” The physical work test is based on the nature of the work performed rather than the cost of the work; if the work performed is of a significant nature, then “there is no fixed minimum amount of work or monetary or percentage threshold required to satisfy the Physical Work Test” (Notice 2014-46).

Notice 2013-29 provides several examples of actions that constitute work of a significant nature, including:

• for a facility that produces electricity from a wind turbine, the beginning of the excavation for the foundation, the setting of anchor bolts into the ground, or the pouring of the concrete pads of the foundation;
• physical work on a custom-designed transformer that steps up the voltage of electricity produced at the facility to the voltage needed for transmission; and
• beginning construction of roads integral to the activity performed by the facility including onsite roads used for moving materials to be processed (e.g., biomass) and roads for equipment to operate and maintain the facility. 

Safe Harbor

Safe Harbor with respect to a facility is demonstrated by showing that 5% or more of the total cost of the facility was paid or incurred.

Administered through the U.S. Cultural Antiquities Task Force, Cultural Property Agreement Implementation Grants support projects that contribute to the implementation of provisions in emergency determinations or cultural property agreements between the United States and foreign governments. This competition is organized through U.S. embassies in countries with which the United States has a signed bilateral cultural property agreement or where emergency import restrictions on archaeological and ethnological material are in effect under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2601 et seq). Applications for projects that foster cooperation, build best practices, and engage communities through the following types of activities will be considered: training, inventories, site security and protection, public education and outreach for crime prevention, and supporting sustainable livelihoods.

The Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS), awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (PRF) to highly qualified early career investigators to carry out an independent research program. The research plan of each Fellowship must address scientific questions within the scope of AGS disciplines. These disciplines include Atmospheric Chemistry (ATC), Climate and Large-Scale Dynamics (CLD), Paleoclimate (PC), and Physical and Dynamic Meteorology (PDM) in the Atmospheric Sciences, and Aeronomy (AER), Magnetospheric Physics (MAG), Solar Terrestrial (ST), and Space Weather Research (SWR) in the Geospace Sciences. The AGS-PRF program supports researchers (also known as Fellows) for a period of up to 24 months with Fellowships that can be taken to the institution of their choice. The program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential and provide them with experiences in research that will broaden perspectives, facilitate interdisciplinary interactions, and help establish them in leadership positions within the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences community. Fellowships are awards to individual Fellows, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows. AGS has made it a priority to address challenges in creating an inclusive geoscience discipline through activities that increase belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (BAJEDI). Proposers are encouraged to explicitly address this priority in their proposed activities. Proposers who are women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), or who have attended two-year colleges and minority-serving institutions for undergraduate or graduate school, or plan to conduct their Fellowship activities at one of these institutions (e.g. Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native Serving Institutions, and Hawaiian Native and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions) are especially encouraged to apply.

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The U.S. Embassy Libreville Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce that funding is available through its Public Diplomacy Small Grants Program. This is an Annual Program Statement, outlining our funding priorities, the strategic themes we focus on, and the procedures for submitting requests for funding. Please carefully follow all instructions below. Purpose of Small Grants: PDS invites proposals for programs that strengthen cultural ties between the U.S. and Gabon through cultural and exchange programming that highlights shared values and promotes bilateral cooperation. All programs must include an American cultural element, or connection with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s in a specific field that will promote increased understanding of U.S. policy and perspectives. Examples of PDS Small Grants Program programs include, but are not limited to: · Academic and professional lectures, seminars and speaker programs; · Artistic and cultural workshops, joint performances and exhibitions; · Cultural heritage conservation and preservation programs; · Professional and academic exchanges and programs; Priority Program Areas: · Enhance Capacity to Preserve the Environment and Biodiversity to Counter the Effects of Climate Change · Deepen U.S. – Gabon People-to-People Ties o Programs that seek to explain U.S. policies, culture, and values to Gabonese audiences · Increase Civic Engagement in Gabonese Society The following types of programs are not eligible for funding: · Programs relating to partisan political activity; · Charitable or development activities; · Construction programs; · Programs that support specific religious activities; · Fund-raising campaigns; · Lobbying for specific legislation or programs · Scientific research; · Programs intended primarily for the growth or institutional development of the organization; or · Programs that duplicate existing programs. Authorizing legislation, type and year of funding: Funding authority rests in the Smith-Mundt. The source of funding is FY2023 Public Diplomacy Funding. B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION Length of performance period: Up to 12 months Number of awards anticipated: 2 or 3 awards (dependent on amounts) Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $12,500 Total available funding: $25,000 Type of Funding: Fiscal Year 2023 Public Diplomacy Funding Anticipated program start date: From July/August 2023 This notice is subject to availability of funding. Funding Instrument Type: Grant, Fixed Amount Award, or Cooperative agreement. Cooperative agreements are different from grants in that PDS staff are more actively involved in the grant implementation. Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in two years or less. PDS will entertain applications for continuation grants funded under these awards beyond the initial budget period on a non-competitive basis subject to availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the program, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the U.S. Department of State. C. ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION 1. Eligible Applicants The Public Diplomacy Section encourages applications from U.S. and Gabon: · Registered not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations with programming experience. · Individuals Non-profit or governmental educational institutions Governmental institutions For-profit or commercial entities are not eligible to apply. 2. Cost Sharing or Matching Cost sharing is not required. 3. Other Eligibility Requirements Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number issued via www.SAM.gov as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Please see Section D.3 for more information. Individuals are not required to have a UEI or be registered in SAM.gov. Please see link below for additional information.

The goals of the paleoclimate program are to: (i) provide a baseline for present climate variability and future climate trends, and (ii) improve the understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that influence climate variability and trends over the long-term. Research topics include observational and modeling studies of past climate variability and its drivers and studies that develop new paleoclimate proxies and records. Competitive proposals will address specific aspects of scientific uncertaintyfor their proposed research. The Paleoclimate program of the Division of the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences together with other Divisions in the Geoscience Directorate have joined in coordinating and supporting the annual Paleo Perspectives on Present and Projected Climate (P4CLIMATE) competition with the objectives to support studies within two research themes: 1) Past Regional and Seasonal Climate; and 2) Past Climate Forcing, Sensitivity, and Feedbacks. Researchers are encouraged to consider the P4CLIMATE competitionas a possible source of support for their global change research.Since proposals eligible for funding in the P4CLIMATE competition are not eligible for funding in the Paleoclimate Program, researchers are strongly advised to contact the Directors of the Paleoclimate Program for guidance as to the suitability of their proposed research for either program. The paleoclimate program strongly encourages proposals from: Researchers at all career stages, including through the AGS Postdoctoral Research Fellowship program. Researchers at all institution types, including MSIs, non-R1 institutions, and institutions in EPSCoR jurisdictions. Researchers from traditionally underrepresented groups in Paleoclimate Science.

This is a Notice of Intent only. The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), intends to award a Cooperative Agreement to Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) for a project to identify effective interventions to address child labor and forced labor through impact evaluation research partnerships. The project will also identify interventions that address potential determinants of child labor and forced labor, including irregular migration and absence of workers’ rights to organize. Authority: 1) DLMS 2-836 G.4: The recipient has submitted an unsolicited proposal that is unique or innovative and has outstanding merit.

NOTE: This is a Notice of Intent. There is no announcement related to this notice. We are not accepting applications. Subject to the availability of funds, USDOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) intends to provide funding to the International Labor Organization (ILO). The objective of the sole source award is for the rights of freedom association and collective bargaining to be realized in law and in practice in Mexico. This will be achieved by the independent observation of workplace democratic processes and capacity building of workers/unions, employers and the government of Mexico leading to greater adherence to international labor standards. Authority: DLMS 2-836 G.3: The recipient has unique qualifications to perform the type of activity to be funded.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks to further develop and nurture a national innovation ecosystem that guides the output of scientific discoveries closer to the development of technologies, products, and services that benefit society. The goals of the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Program, created in 2011 by NSF,are tospur translation of fundamental research to the marketplace, to encourage collaboration between academia and industry, and to train NSF-funded faculty, students and other researchers in innovation and entrepreneurship skills. The I-Corps Program utilizes experiential learning of customer and industry discovery, coupled with first-hand investigation of industrial processes, to quickly assess the translational potential of inventions. The I-Corps Program is designed to support the commercialization of "deep technologies,” those revolving around fundamental discoveries in science and engineering. The I-Corps Program addresses the skill and knowledge gaps associated with the transformation of basic research into deep technology ventures (DTVs). The purpose of the I-Corps Teams program is to identify NSF-funded researchers to receive additional support in the form of entrepreneurial education, mentoring, and funding to accelerate the translation of knowledge derived from fundamental research into emerging products and services that may attract subsequent third-party funding. The outcomes of I-Corps Teams' projects are threefold: 1) a decision on a clear path forward based on an assessment of the business model, 2) substantial first-hand evidence for or against product-market fit, with the identification of customer segments and corresponding value propositions, and 3) a narrative of a technology demonstrationfor potential partners. WEBINAR: A webinar will be held monthly to answer questions about this program. Details will be posted on the I-Corps Teams website (seehttps://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/program.jsp) as they become available.

The Plant Genome Research Program (PGRP) supports genome-scale research that addresses challenging questions of biological, societal and economic importance. PGRP encourages the development of innovative tools, technologies and resources that empower a broad plant research community to answer scientific questions on a genome-wide scale. Emphasis is placed on the scale and depth of the question being addressed and the creativity of the approach. Data produced by plant genomics should be usable, accessible, integrated across scales and of high impact across biology. Training, broadening participation, and career development are essential to scientific progress and should be integrated in all PGRP-funded projects. Two funding tracks are currently available: RESEARCH-PGR TRACK: Genome-scale plant research to address fundamental questions in biology, including processes of economic and/or societal importance. TRTech-PGR TRACK: Tools, resources and technology breakthroughs that further enable functional plant genomics.

MCB supports research that promises to uncover the fundamental properties of living systems across atomic, molecular, subcellular, and cellular scales. The program gives high priority to projects that advance mechanistic understanding of the structure, function, and evolution of molecular, subcellular, and cellular systems, especially research that aims at quantitative and predictive knowledge of complex behavior and emergent properties. MCB encourages research exploring new concepts in molecular and cellular biology, while incorporating insights and approaches from other scientific disciplines, such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics, to illuminate principles that govern life at the molecular and cellular level. MCB also encourages research that exploits experimental and theoretical approaches and utilizes a diverse spectrum of model and non-model animals, plants, and microbes across the tree of life. Proposals that pursue potentially transformative ideas are welcome, even if these entail higher risk. This solicitation calls for proposals in research areas supported by the four MCB core clusters, including: (i) structure, dynamics, and function of biomolecules and supramolecular assemblies, especially under physiological conditions (Molecular Biophysics); (ii) organization, processing, expression, regulation, and evolution of genetic and epigenetic information (Genetic Mechanisms); (iii) cellular structure, properties, and function across broad spatiotemporal scales (Cellular Dynamics and Function); and (iv) systems and/or synthetic biology to study complex interactions through modeling or manipulation or design of living systems at the molecular-to-cellular scale (Systems and Synthetic Biology). All MCB clusters prioritize projects that integrate across scales, investigate molecular and cellular evolution, synergize experimental research with computational or mathematical modeling, and/or develop innovative, broadly applicable methods and technologies. Projects that bridge the intellectual edges between MCB clusters are welcome. Projects that integrate molecular and cellular biosciences with other subdisciplines of biology are also welcome through the new Integrative Research in Biology (IntBIO) track. MCB strives to achieve key goals laid out in the NSF Strategic Plan. Among these goals are: (i) to empower Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) talent to fully participate in science and engineering; (ii) to enable creation of new knowledge by advancing the frontiers of research and enhancing research capability; and (iii) to benefit society through translation of knowledge into solutions. In line with these goals, MCB seeks to increase the diversity of individuals and institutions in the molecular and cellular biosciences community we support. Hence, to be competitive, proposers must be intentional regarding broadening participation in their projects through efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion of individuals traditionally underrepresented in STEM and of types of institutions, such as Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs), Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), two-year colleges, institutions in jurisdictions associated with the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), as well as major research institutions. Also aligned with the NSF Strategic Plan, MCB encourages basic research ideas that are inspired by curiosity and/or by their potential use for societal benefit, especially pertaining to pressing challenges such as, but not limited to climate change, clean energy, feeding the world sustainably, or health. With regard to health-related challenges, it should be noted that research using biomedical model systems to address questions of basic scientific interest is permissible. However, in accordance with the PAPPG,MCB does not normally support biological research on mechanisms of disease in humans, including on the etiology, diagnosis, or treatment of disease or disorder. Similarly, MCB does not normally support biological research to develop animal models of such conditions or testing of procedures for their treatment. Proposals motivated by such disease-related goals will be returned without review.