Tax Exemption & Certification for Pollution Control Equipment and Recycling Property

IowaWasteReductionCenter / University of Northern Iowa

319-273-8905 or 1-800-422-3109

IAC (567) 11.1-11.6February 10, 2003

Does this option apply to my operation?

If your property is used primarily to comply with an effluent standard, a water quality standard, an emission standard or to control air emissions, or it is used in the manufacturing process of recycling and converting waste plastic, paper or paperboard into new raw materials or products, your facility may be eligible for certification and annual tax exemption.

General Requirements

The equipment must have been installed after September 23, 1970 for pollution control equipment, and after January 1, 1994 for recycling property. Construction or installation must have been completed by December 31 of the year preceding the year for which exemption is claimed. To be eligible for annual tax exemption, the equipment must be certified by the DNR.

Types of equipment that are normally considered eligible are as follows:

Air

  • Inertial separators (cyclones, etc.);
  • Wet collection devices (scrubbers);
  • Electrostatic precipitators;
  • Cloth filter collectors (baghouses);
  • Direct fired afterburners;
  • Catalytic afterburners;
  • Gas adsorption equipment;
  • Gas absorption equipment;
  • Vapor condensers;
  • Floating roofs for storage tanks;
  • Controlled flare stacks;
  • Fugitive dust controls (such as enclosures or spray systems); and
  • Standby systems and spare parts for the continuous operation of pollution control equipment.

Water

  • Pretreatment facilities, which neutralize or stabilize sewage, industrial waste or other waste from a point immediately preceding the point of such treatment, including necessary pumping and transmitting facilities, or treatment facilities before disposal.
  • Improvements to property such as ancillary devices and facilities such as lagoons, ponds and structures for the storage or treatment of sewage, industrial waste or other waste from a plant or other property.
  • Standby systems or spare parts for the continuous operation of other pollution control property.
  • Property which exclusively conveys/transports accumulated sewage, industrial waste or other recovered materials as an integral part of the control operation.
  • A building which performs no function other than housing or sheltering other pollution control property; and
  • Property that dissipates heat (cooling towers).

Types of equipment that are not usually considered eligible:

Air and/or Water

  • Land purchased or held as a site for pollution control property;
  • Property which is constructed/installed in order to circumvent DNR rules;
  • Incinerators;
  • Solid waste compactors when used to reduce volume prior to landfill disposal, or open burning;
  • Replacement boilers or changeovers in fuels unless made in compliance with an emissions reduction program approved by the DNR.
  • Property that merely dilutes sewage, industrial waste or other waste unless required by the DNR.

How Do I Apply for Certification and Tax Exemption?

Complete form 54-064a (3 pages), keep one copy for your files and submit a copy to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) at:

Iowa Department of Natural Resources

WallaceBuilding

Des Moines, IA50319

Request for certification may be submitted to the DNR anytime after property is constructed/installed, however submission should occur by January 1 to allow sufficient time for certification before the February 1 deadline to request an exemption.

The DNR will notify you of certification or denial within 10 days. If granted certification, the DNR will send two copies of the certificate by February 1 of the year for which the exemption is claimed. Keep one copy and submit the other copy with your request for tax exemption.

Send the application for exemption and DNR certificate of pollution control property to be assessed by the Director of Revenue and Finance to:

Department of Revenue and Finance

HooverStateOfficeBuilding

Des Moines, IA50319

This summary is meant to be an overview. For questions regarding equipment certification, contact the DNR at 515-281-5918. For questions regarding annual tax exemption,

contact the Department of Revenue and Finance at 800-367-3388 or 515-281-3114 in the

Des Moines area.