II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5641 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against 

income tax for qualified conservation contributions which include National Scenic Trails. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 20 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MURPHY, and Ms. WARREN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred 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 contributions which include National Scenic Trails. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Complete America’s 

5 Great Trails Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 30E. NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CRED4 IT. 

5 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al6 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter 

7 for the taxable year an amount equal to the fair market 

8 value of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu9 tion of the taxpayer for the taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CON11 TRIBUTION.—For purposes of this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘National Scenic 

13 Trail conservation contribution’ means any qualified 

14 conservation contribution— 

15 ‘‘(A) to the extent the qualified real prop16 erty interest with respect to such contribution 

17 includes a National Scenic Trail (or portion 

18 thereof) and its trail corridor, and 

19 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the taxpayer 

20 makes an election under this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL.—The term ‘Na22 tional Scenic Trail’ means any trail authorized and 

23 designated under section 5 of the National Trails 

24 System Act (16 U.S.C. 1244). 

25 ‘‘(3) TRAIL CORRIDOR.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘trail cor2 ridor’ means so much of the corridor of a trail 

3 as is— 

4 ‘‘(i) subject to subparagraph (B), not 

5 less than 50 feet wide on each side of such 

6 trail, and 

7 ‘‘(ii) not greater than 2,640 feet wide. 

8 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) LESS THAN 50 FEET WIDE ON A

10 SIDE OF THE TRAIL.—In the case of an in11 terest in real property of the taxpayer 

12 which includes less than 50 feet on either 

13 side of the trail, the trail corridor shall in14 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 inter18 est in real property of the taxpayer which 

19 includes a residence or structure owned by 

20 the taxpayer which is located less than 50 

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 distance from the trail as is determined 

25 appropriate by the taxpayer. 


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1 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED CONSERVATION CONTRIBU2 TION; QUALIFIED REAL PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 

3 terms ‘qualified conservation contribution’ and 

4 ‘qualified real property interest’ have the respective 

5 meanings given such terms by section 170(h), except 

6 that paragraph (2)(A) thereof shall be applied with7 out regard to any qualified mineral interest (as de8 fined in paragraph (6) thereof). 

9 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Fair market value 

11 of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu12 tion shall be determined in the same manner as 

13 qualified conservation contributions under section 

14 170, except that in any case, to the extent prac15 ticable, fair market value shall be determined by ref16 erence to the highest and best use of the real prop17 erty with respect to such contribution. 

18 ‘‘(2) ELECTION IRREVOCABLE.—An election 

19 under this section may not be revoked. 

20 ‘‘(3) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc21 tion shall be allowed under this chapter with respect 

22 to any qualified conservation contribution with re23 spect to which an election is made under this sec24 tion. 

25 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) BUSINESS CREDIT TREATED AS PART OF

2 GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.—So much of the credit 

3 which would be allowed under subsection (a) for any 

4 taxable year (determined without regard to this sub5 section) that is attributable to property used in a 

6 trade or business or held for the production of in7 come shall be treated as a credit listed in section 

8 38(b) for such taxable year (and not allowed under 

9 subsection (a)). 

10 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL CREDIT.—For purposes of this 

11 title, the credit allowed under subsection (a) for any 

12 taxable year (determined after the application of 

13 paragraph (1)) shall be treated as a credit allowable 

14 under subpart A for such taxable year. 

15 ‘‘(e) CARRYFORWARD OF UNUSED CREDIT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the credit allowable 

17 under subsection (a) exceeds— 

18 ‘‘(A) the limitation imposed by section 

19 26(a) for any taxable year, reduced by 

20 ‘‘(B) the sum of the credits allowable 

21 under subpart A (other than this section) for 

22 the taxable year, 

23 such excess shall be carried to the succeeding tax24 able year and added to the credit allowable under 

25 subsection (a) for such succeeding taxable year. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—No credit may be carried 

2 forward under this subsection to any taxable year 

3 following the tenth taxable year after the taxable 

4 year in which the credit arose. For purposes of the 

5 preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used 

6 on a first-in first-out basis.’’. 

7 (b) CONTINUED USE NOT INCONSISTENT WITH

8 CONSERVATION PURPOSES.—A contribution of an interest 

9 in real property shall not fail to be treated as a National 

10 Scenic Trail conservation contribution (as defined in sec11 tion 30E(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) solely 

12 by reason of continued use of the real property, such as 

13 for recreational or agricultural use (including motor vehi14 cle use related thereto), if, under the circumstances, such 

15 use does not impair significant conservation interests and 

16 is not inconsistent with the purposes of the National 

17 Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 1241 et seq.). 

18 (c) STUDY REGARDING EFFICACY OF NATIONAL

19 SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte21 rior shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the 

22 Treasury, study— 

23 (A) the efficacy of the National Scenic 

24 Trail conservation credit under section 30E of 

25 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5641.IS S5641

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1 pleting, extending, and increasing the number 

2 of National Scenic Trails (as defined in section 

3 30E(b) of such Code), and 

4 (B) the feasibility and estimated costs and 

5 benefits of— 

6 (i) making such credit refundable (in 

7 whole or in part), and 

8 (ii) allowing transfer of such credit. 

9 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

11 the Interior shall submit a report to Congress on the 

12 results of the study conducted under this subsection. 

13 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec14 tions for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

15 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new item: 

‘‘30E. National Scenic Trail conservation credit.’’. 

17 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply to contributions made after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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