II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1069 

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 

APRIL 23, 2015 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) 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), but only if such trail 

25 is at least 200 miles in length. 


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1 ‘‘(3) TRAIL CORRIDOR.—The term ‘trail cor2 ridor’ means so much of the corridor of a trail as 

3 is— 

4 ‘‘(A) not less than— 

5 ‘‘(i) 150 feet wide on each side of 

6 such trail, or 

7 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an interest in real 

8 property of the taxpayer which includes 

9 less than 150 feet on either side of such 

10 trail, the entire distance with respect to 

11 such interest on such side, and 

12 ‘‘(B) not greater than 2,640 feet wide. 

13 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED CONSERVATION CONTRIBU14 TION; QUALIFIED REAL PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 

15 terms ‘qualified conservation contribution’ and 

16 ‘qualified real property interest’ have the respective 

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

18 that paragraph (2)(A) thereof shall be applied with19 out regard to any qualified mineral interest (as de20 fined in paragraph (6) thereof). 

21 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

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

23 of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu24 tion shall be determined in the same manner as 

25 qualified conservation contributions under section 


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1 170, except that in any case, to the extent prac2 ticable, fair market value shall be determined by ref3 erence to the highest and best use of the real prop4 erty with respect to such contribution. 

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

6 under this section may not be revoked. 

7 ‘‘(3) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc8 tion shall be allowed under this chapter with respect 

9 to any qualified conservation contribution with re10 spect to which an election is made under this sec11 tion. 

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

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

14 GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.—So much of the credit 

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

16 taxable year (determined without regard to this sub17 section) that is attributable to property used in a 

18 trade or business or held for the production of in19 come shall be treated as a credit listed in section 

20 38(b) for such taxable year (and not allowed under 

21 subsection (a)). 

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

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

24 taxable year (determined after the application of 


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1 paragraph (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— 

6 ‘‘(A) the limitation imposed by section 

7 26(a) for any taxable year, reduced by 

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

9 under subpart A (other than this section) for 

10 the taxable year, 

11 such excess shall be carried to the succeeding tax12 able year and added to the credit allowable under 

13 subsection (a) for such succeeding taxable year. 

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

15 forward under this subsection to any taxable year 

16 following the tenth taxable year after the taxable 

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

18 preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used 

19 on a first-in first-out basis.’’. 

20 (b) CONTINUED USE NOT INCONSISTENT WITH

21 CONSERVATION PURPOSES.—A contribution of an interest 

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

23 Scenic Trail conservation contribution (as defined in sec24 tion 30E(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) solely 

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


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1 for recreational or agricultural use (including motor vehi2 cle use related thereto), if, under the circumstances, such 

3 use does not impair significant conservation interests and 

4 is not inconsistent with the purposes of the National 

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

6 (c) STUDY REGARDING EFFICACY OF NATIONAL

7 SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte9 rior shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the 

10 Treasury, study— 

11 (A) the efficacy of the National Scenic 

12 Trail conservation credit under section 30E of 

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in com14 pleting, extending, and increasing the number 

15 of National Scenic Trails (as defined in section 

16 30E(b) of such Code), and 

17 (B) the feasibility and estimated costs and 

18 benefits of— 

19 (i) making such credit refundable (in 

20 whole or in part), and 

21 (ii) allowing transfer of such credit. 

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

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

24 the Interior shall submit a report to Congress on the 

25 results of the study conducted under this subsection. 


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1 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

3 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new item: 

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

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

6 this section shall apply to contributions made after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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