Complete America’s Great Trails Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 809 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Finance 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 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub- 7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S809.IS S809 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 809 IS 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 1 section: 2 ‘‘SEC. 30E. NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CRED- 3 IT. 4 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al- 5 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter 6 for the taxable year an amount equal to the fair market 7 value of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu- 8 tion of the taxpayer for the taxable year. 9 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CON- 10 TRIBUTION.—For purposes of this section— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘National Scenic 12 Trail conservation contribution’ means any qualified 13 conservation contribution— 14 ‘‘(A) to the extent the qualified real prop- 15 erty interest with respect to such contribution 16 includes a National Scenic Trail (or portion 17 thereof) and its trail corridor, and 18 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the taxpayer 19 makes an election under this section. 20 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL.—The term ‘Na- 21 tional Scenic Trail’ means any trail authorized and 22 designated under section 5 of the National Trails 23 System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244), but only if such trail 24 is at least 200 miles in length. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S809.IS S809 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 809 IS ‘‘(3) TRAIL CORRIDOR.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘trail cor- 2 ridor’ means so much of the corridor of a trail 3 as is— 4 ‘‘(i) subject to subparagraph (B), not 5 less than 150 feet wide on each side of 6 such trail, and 7 ‘‘(ii) not greater than 2,640 feet wide. 8 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 9 ‘‘(i) LESS THAN 150 FEET WIDE ON A 10 SIDE OF THE TRAIL.—In the case of an in- 11 terest in real property of the taxpayer 12 which includes less than 150 feet on either 13 side of the trail, the trail corridor shall in- 14 clude the entire distance with respect to 15 such interest on such side. 16 ‘‘(ii) BUILDING AND STRUCTURES 17 NEAR THE TRAIL.—In the case of an inter- 18 est in real property of the taxpayer which 19 includes a residence or structure owned by 20 the taxpayer which is located less than 150 21 feet from the trail, the trail corridor for 22 the side of the trail on which the residence 23 or structure is located shall include such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S809.IS S809 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 809 IS distance from the trail as is determined 1 appropriate by the taxpayer. 2 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED CONSERVATION CONTRIBU- 3 TION; QUALIFIED REAL PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 4 terms ‘qualified conservation contribution’ and 5 ‘qualified real property interest’ have the respective 6 meanings given such terms by section 170(h), except 7 that paragraph (2)(A) thereof shall be applied with- 8 out regard to any qualified mineral interest (as de- 9 fined in paragraph (6) thereof). 10 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 11 ‘‘(1) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Fair market value 12 of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu- 13 tion shall be determined in the same manner as 14 qualified conservation contributions under section 15 170, except that in any case, to the extent prac- 16 ticable, fair market value shall be determined by ref- 17 erence to the highest and best use of the real prop- 18 erty with respect to such contribution. 19 ‘‘(2) ELECTION IRREVOCABLE.—An election 20 under this section may not be revoked. 21 ‘‘(3) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc- 22 tion shall be allowed under this chapter with respect 23 to any qualified conservation contribution with re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S809.IS S809 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 809 IS spect to which an election is made under this sec- 1 tion. 2 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.— 3 ‘‘(1) BUSINESS CREDIT TREATED AS PART OF 4 GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.—So much of the credit 5 which would be allowed under subsection (a) for any 6 taxable year (determined without regard to this sub- 7 section) that is attributable to property used in a 8 trade or business or held for the production of in- 9 come shall be treated as a credit listed in section 10 38(b) for such taxable year (and not allowed under 11 subsection (a)). 12 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL CREDIT.—For purposes of this 13 title, the credit allowed under subsection (a) for any 14 taxable year (determined after the application of 15 paragraph (1)) shall be treated as a credit allowable 16 under subpart A for such taxable year. 17 ‘‘(e) CARRYFORWARD OF UNUSED CREDIT.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the credit allowable 19 under subsection (a) exceeds— 20 ‘‘(A) the limitation imposed by section 21 26(a) for any taxable year, reduced by 22 ‘‘(B) the sum of the credits allowable 23 under subpart A (other than this section) for 24 the taxable year, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S809.IS S809 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 809 IS such excess shall be carried to the succeeding tax- 1 able year and added to the credit allowable under 2 subsection (a) for such succeeding taxable year. 3 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—No credit may be carried 4 forward under this subsection to any taxable year 5 following the tenth taxable year after the taxable 6 year in which the credit arose. For purposes of the 7 preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used 8 on a first-in first-out basis.’’. 9 (b) CONTINUED USE NOT INCONSISTENT WITH 10 CONSERVATION PURPOSES.—A contribution of an interest 11 in real property shall not fail to be treated as a National 12 Scenic Trail conservation contribution (as defined in sec- 13 tion 30E(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) solely 14 by reason of continued use of the real property, such as 15 for recreational or agricultural use (including motor vehi- 16 cle use related thereto), if, under the circumstances, such 17 use does not impair significant conservation interests and 18 is not inconsistent with the purposes of the National 19 Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1241 et seq.). 20 (c) STUDY REGARDING EFFICACY OF NATIONAL 21 SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte- 23 rior shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the 24 Treasury, study— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S809.IS S809 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 809 IS (A) the efficacy of the National Scenic 1 Trail conservation credit under section 30E of 2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in com- 3 pleting, extending, and increasing the number 4 of National Scenic Trails (as defined in section 5 30E(b) of such Code), and 6 (B) the feasibility and estimated costs and 7 benefits of— 8 (i) making such credit refundable (in 9 whole or in part), and 10 (ii) allowing transfer of such credit. 11 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 13 the Interior shall submit a report to Congress on the 14 results of the study conducted under this subsection. 15 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 16 tions for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 17 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol- 18 lowing new item: 19 ‘‘30E. National Scenic Trail conservation credit.’’. (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 20 this section shall apply to contributions made after the 21 date of the enactment of this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:08 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S809.IS S809 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS