Complete America’s Great Trails Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1727 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against income tax for qualified conservation contributions which include Na- tional Scenic Trails. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 13, 2019 Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. PETERS, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi- tion to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against income tax for qualified conservation con- tributions which include National Scenic Trails. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Complete America’s 4 Great Trails Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1727.IH H1727 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1727 IH SEC. 2. NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub- 2 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 3 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 4 section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 30E. NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CRED- 6 IT. 7 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al- 8 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter 9 for the taxable year an amount equal to the fair market 10 value of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu- 11 tion of the taxpayer for the taxable year. 12 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CON- 13 TRIBUTION.—For purposes of this section— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘National Scenic 15 Trail conservation contribution’ means any qualified 16 conservation contribution— 17 ‘‘(A) to the extent the qualified real prop- 18 erty interest with respect to such contribution 19 includes a National Scenic Trail (or portion 20 thereof) and its trail corridor, and 21 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the taxpayer 22 makes an election under this section. 23 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL.—The term ‘Na- 24 tional Scenic Trail’ means any trail authorized and 25 designated under section 5 of the National Trails 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1727.IH H1727 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1727 IH System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244), but only if such trail 1 is at least 200 miles in length. 2 ‘‘(3) TRAIL CORRIDOR.—The term ‘trail cor- 3 ridor’ means so much of the corridor of a trail as 4 is— 5 ‘‘(A) not less than— 6 ‘‘(i) 150 feet wide on each side of 7 such trail, or 8 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an interest in real 9 property of the taxpayer which includes 10 less than 150 feet on either side of such 11 trail, the entire distance with respect to 12 such interest on such side, and 13 ‘‘(B) not greater than 2,640 feet wide. 14 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED CONSERVATION CONTRIBU- 15 TION; QUALIFIED REAL PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 16 terms ‘qualified conservation contribution’ and 17 ‘qualified real property interest’ have the respective 18 meanings given such terms by section 170(h), except 19 that paragraph (2)(A) thereof shall be applied with- 20 out regard to any qualified mineral interest (as de- 21 fined in paragraph (6) thereof). 22 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 23 ‘‘(1) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Fair market value 24 of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1727.IH H1727 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1727 IH tion shall be determined under rules similar to the 1 valuation rules under Treasury Regulations under 2 section 170, except that in any case, to the extent 3 practicable, fair market value shall be determined by 4 reference to the highest and best use of the real 5 property with respect to such contribution. 6 ‘‘(2) ELECTION IRREVOCABLE.—An election 7 under this section may not be revoked. 8 ‘‘(3) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc- 9 tion shall be allowed under this chapter with respect 10 to any qualified conservation contribution with re- 11 spect to which an election is made under this sec- 12 tion. 13 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.— 14 ‘‘(1) BUSINESS CREDIT TREATED AS PART OF 15 GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.—So much of the credit 16 which would be allowed under subsection (a) for any 17 taxable year (determined without regard to this sub- 18 section) that is attributable to property used in a 19 trade or business or held for the production of in- 20 come shall be treated as a credit listed in section 21 38(b) for such taxable year (and not allowed under 22 subsection (a)). 23 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL CREDIT.—For purposes of this 24 title, the credit allowed under subsection (a) for any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1727.IH H1727 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1727 IH taxable year (determined after application of para- 1 graph (1)) shall be treated as a credit allowable 2 under subpart A for such taxable year. 3 ‘‘(e) CARRYFORWARD OF UNUSED CREDIT.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the credit allowable 5 under subsection (a) exceeds the limitation imposed 6 by section 26(a) for any taxable year reduced by the 7 sum of the credit allowable under subpart A (other 8 than this section), such excess shall be carried to the 9 succeeding taxable year and added to the credit al- 10 lowable under subsection (a) for such succeeding 11 taxable year. 12 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—No credit may be carried 13 forward under this subsection to any taxable year 14 following the tenth taxable year after the taxable 15 year in which the credit arose. For purposes of the 16 preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used 17 on a first-in first-out basis.’’. 18 (b) CONTINUED USE NOT INCONSISTENT WITH 19 CONSERVATION PURPOSES.—A contribution of an interest 20 in real property shall not fail to be treated as a National 21 Scenic Trail conservation contribution (as defined in sec- 22 tion 30E(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) solely 23 by reason of continued use of the real property, such as 24 for recreational or agricultural use (including motor vehi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1727.IH H1727 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1727 IH cle use related thereto), if, under the circumstances, such 1 use does not impair significant conservation interests and 2 is not inconsistent with the purposes of the National 3 Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1241 et seq.). 4 (c) STUDY REGARDING EFFICACY OF NATIONAL 5 SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte- 7 rior shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the 8 Treasury, study— 9 (A) the efficacy of the National Scenic 10 Trail conservation credit under section 30E of 11 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in com- 12 pleting, extending, and increasing the number 13 of National Scenic Trails (as defined in section 14 30E(b) of such Code), and 15 (B) the feasibility and estimated costs and 16 benefits of— 17 (i) making such credit refundable (in 18 whole or in part), and 19 (ii) allowing transfer of such credit. 20 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 22 the Interior shall submit a report to Congress on the 23 results of the study conducted under this subsection. 24 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1727.IH H1727 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1727 IH (1) Section 23(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue 1 Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘, 30E,’’ after 2 ‘‘25D’’. 3 (2) Section 25(e)(1)(C) of such Code is amend- 4 ed by striking ‘‘and 25D’’ and inserting ‘‘, 25D, and 5 30E’’. 6 (3) Section 25D(c) of such Code is amended by 7 inserting ‘‘and section 25D’’ after ‘‘other than this 8 section’’. 9 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 10 for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 11 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing new item: 13 ‘‘Sec. 30E. National Scenic Trail conservation credit.’’. (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 14 this section shall apply to contributions made after the 15 date of the enactment of this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1727.IH H1727 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS