H.R. 2224 — Tar Sands Tax Loophole Elimination Act

This section revises the definition of "crude oil" for purposes of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund excise tax (i.e., the 9-cent-per-barrel tax under IRC §4611(a) on crude oil received by U.S. refiners and certain imported petroleum products, with revenues funding oil spill prevention and response) to explicitly include crude oil condensates, natural gasoline, bitumen or bituminous mixtures, oil derived from such mixtures (including tar sands), and oil derived from kerogen-bearing sources (including oil shale). It further (1) authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to classify additional fuel feedstocks or finished fuel products customarily transported by pipeline, vessel, railcar, or tanker truck as taxable crude oil or petroleum products if consistent with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 definition of oil and produced in sufficient commercial quantities to pose a spill risk; and (2) makes a technical amendment to the refined petroleum products definition by striking language limiting origin "from a well located." The amendments apply to taxable events after the date of enactment.