Coalition Joins Comments In Support of Guidance to Disallow Renewable Energy Tax Credits Near Japanese American Incarceration Sites – The Coalition To Protect America's National Parks

November 4, 2022

Notice 2022-49 — Certain Energy Generation Incentives

Comments Submitted electronically via Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.regulations.gov)

Internal Revenue Service
U.S Department of Treasury
P.O. Box 7604
Washington, DC 20044

Dear Internal Revenue Service:

On behalf of our 20 respective organizations and 21 local and regional chapters of the Japanese American Citizens League, we appreciate the opportunity to submit comments regarding renewable energy tax credits and the preservation of Japanese American World War II-era incarceration sites managed by the National Park Service and non-profit partners.

We are grateful for the Treasury Department’s commitment to engage a broad spectrum of stakeholders to implement the Inflation Reduction Act’s renewable energy provisions. As part of the Biden Administration’s Day One commitment to racial justice, we also appreciate Secretary Yellen’s leadership to advance racial and environmental justice, particularly in light of the significant increase in COVID hate crimes directed against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.¹

We respectfully request that the Treasury Department issue regulations and policy guidance to disallow the Renewable Energy Production Credit (§ 45), Energy Investment Credit (§ 48) and other credits (§ 45Y and §48E) on public land within a certain radius of units of the National Park System and designated National Historic Landmarks (NHL) associated with the incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II.

In 1942, the U.S. Government located incarceration sites on large tracts of vacant federal land near railroad lines to forcibly remove 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes and communities to incarceration sites. Today, because electric transmission lines are located near railroads, private companies are seeking approval for projects adjacent to incarceration sites.²

For almost 50 years, Presidents and Congress have taken executive and legislative action to acknowledge that the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was wrong. Since 1992, Congress has passed bipartisan legislation that has designated five incarceration sites as units of the National Park System: Manzanar (CA), Minidoka (ID), Tule Lake (CA), Honouliuli (HI) and, most recently, Amache (CO), which was signed into law by President Biden in 2022. The Secretary of the Interior has also previously designated Heart Mountain (WY), Topaz (UT) and Rohwer (AR) as National Historic Landmarks (NHL).

Today, these sites help to heal the trauma from the forced incarceration and ensure that this chapter in our nation’s àhistory is not forgotten and never repeated. These sites are especially important to combat anti-AAPI violence, family separations and discrimination against Muslims in the previous administration.

The Biden Administration has identified advancing racial and environmental justice as policy priorities through the President’s Executive Orders, Proclamations and Jobs Plan:

Day One Racial Justice Executive Order. “Affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government.”³
Day of Remembrance Proclamation (2022): “Today, the National Park Service helps preserve several Japanese American incarceration camps. These tangible reminders of our history provide important spaces for reflection and learning about the injustices born of prejudice. Preserving incarceration sites as national parks and historic landmarks is proof of our Nation’s commitment to facing the wrongs of our past, to healing the pain still felt by survivors and their descendants, and to ensuring that we always remember why it matters that we never stop fighting for equality and justice for all. My Administration is committed to maintaining these national parks and landmarks for future generations and to combating xenophobia, hate, and intolerance … ⁴
President’s American Jobs Plan (2021): “President Biden is proposing a ten-year extension and phase down of an expanded direct-pay investment tax credit and production tax credit for clean energy generation and storage … All of this will be done while ensuring those facilities meet robust and rigorous standards for worker, public, and environmental safety as well as environmental justice.”⁵ (emphasis added)

Renewable energy companies have proposed siting projects on the historic footprint of the Minidoka Relocation Center and within the viewshed of Manzanar and Minidoka National Historic Sites. To preserve National Parks and NHLs as places for learning and healing, we recommend that the Treasury Department disallow renewable energy tax credits for wind projects on public land within 25 miles of incarceration sites and solar projects on public land within five miles of the incarceration sites.⁶ The credits should be disallowed if all or any part of the project is located within the radius of incarceration sites defined as Congressionally-authorized units of the National Park System and National Historic Landmarks, designated as of the date of enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act:

Units of the National Park System (listed by year of legislative designation):

Manzanar National Historic Site, California (1992)

Minidoka NHS, Idaho (2008)

Tule Lake National Monument, California (2019)

Honouliuli National Historic Site, Hawaii (2019)

Amache NHS, Colorado (2022)

National Historic Landmarks (listed by year of designation by the Secretary of Interior)

Rohwer, Arkansas (1992)

Heart Mountain, Wyoming (2006)

Topaz, Utah (2007)

We recommend that the radius be calculated starting at the administrative areas of the above sites as defined in the Figures in Section 2 of the Japanese American Confinement Sites Act (P.L. 109-441, 120 STAT 3288) included in ‘‘Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites’’, published by the Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, rev. 2000.

Our organizations support renewable energy and “smart-from-the- start” renewable energy siting principles. By incorporating these recommendations in regulations and agency policy, the Administration can promote both racial justice and progress against climate change by encouraging companies to avoid siting projects adjacent to National Parks and Historic Landmarks that tell our important stories.

The Treasury Department can preserve our nation’s heritage and avoid further trauma on survivors, descendants, and the Japanese American community. These sites are sacred ground. By adopting protective measures, these sites can be managed unimpaired for the benefit of current and future generations.

Thank you for considering our views. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact David Inoue, Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League, at di****@ja**.org or Dan Sakura at da*@sa**************************.com.

Sincerely,

Japanese American Citizens League
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
A&R Medical Supply
Bainbridge Is. Japanese American Community
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association
Basin and Range Watch
Central California Asian Pacific Women
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
Fred T. Korematsu Institute
Friends of Amache
Friends of Minidoka
Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
Japanese American Museum of Oregon
Japanese American Service Committee
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii
Manzanar Committee
Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee
National Japanese American Memorial Foundation (NJAMF)
Topaz Museum
Tule Lake Committee

JACL Chapters
Alaska Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League
Berkeley Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League
Dayton Chapter Japanese American Citizens League
Eden Township JACL
JACL Honolulu Chapter
JACL Ventura County Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – Arizona Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – Cincinnati Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – Florin-Sacramento Valley Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – Philadelphia Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – San Jose Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – Seabrook Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – Seattle Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League – Twin Cities Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League, Washington D.C.Chapter
Puyallup Valley Chapter, Japanese American Citizens League
Riverside Chapter JACL
San Diego Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League
San Mateo Chapter JACL
SELANOCO Chapter of the JACL
St Louis Chapter JACL

1
https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/a-coordinated-strategy-to-advance-racial-equity-at-treasury
2
https://grist.org/energy/idaho-wind-rush-meets-opposition-outside-a-wwii-prison-camp-minidoka/
3
Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government – The White House
4
Day Of Remembrance Of Japanese American Incarceration During World War II | The White House
5
FACT SHEET: The American Jobs Plan – The White House
6
The Bureau of Land Management has defined a five mile visual area of potential effect for solar projects. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada Template Visual Area of Potential Effect (APE) Policy https://www.blm.gov/policy/nv-im-2021-006