I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5626 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to facilitate certain 

acquisitions of property for conservation purposes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2012 

Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make grants 

to facilitate certain acquisitions of property for conservation purposes, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Clean and Beautiful 

5 Communities Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO FACILITATE CERTAIN ACQUISITIONS OF 

7 PROPERTY FOR CONSERVATION PURPOSES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act9 ing through the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assist10 ance Program of the National Park Service, may make 


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1 grants to facilitate the acquisition by a qualified organiza2 tion of a qualified real property interest exclusively for 

3 conservation purposes, that assist in the funding of trans4 actional and operational costs associated with the pur5 chase and management of preserved land or a qualified 

6 real property interest (including easements) including— 

7 (1) stewardship costs, including costs of stand8 ards and practices development and implementation; 

9 (2) land purchase transaction costs; 

10 (3) costs of preparing for accreditation associ11 ated with land management; and 

12 (4) costs of due diligence, including appraisal, 

13 title, survey, environmental hazard assessment, and 

14 recording costs. 

15 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person shall be eligible for 

17 a grant under this section only if the person— 

18 (A) is an organization described in section 

19 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

20 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 

21 such Code; and 

22 (B) is not a State or local government en23 tity. 

24 (2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

25 grant under subsection (a), a qualified organization 


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1 shall submit to the Secretary of the Interior an ap2 plication at such time, in such form, and containing 

3 such information as the Secretary shall require. 

4 (c) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this section, 

5 the Secretary of the Interior shall give priority to eligible 

6 persons that— 

7 (1) demonstrate a record of successfully acquir8 ing and competently managing a substantial port9 folio of conserved properties and easement holdings; 

10 (2) have established and diverse capital and de11 velopment programs; 

12 (3) demonstrate a record of working success13 fully with local and State governmental stakeholders 

14 in building support for conservation acquisitions and 

15 leveraging funding opportunities; and 

16 (4) currently employ full-time or part-time staff 

17 to manage their operations on a nonvoluntary basis 

18 or can demonstrate capacity to employ such staff in 

19 the near-term. 

20 (d) LIMITATION.—A grant under this section may 

21 not be used to pay consideration for the purchase of any 

22 interest in real property. 

23 (e) GRANT AMOUNT AND DURATION.—A grant under 

24 this section shall be in an amount of not more than 

25 $500,000 per year for 5 years. 


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1 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of the 

2 Interior may not make a grant under subsection (a) in 

3 an amount that exceeds 50 percent of the costs such grant 

4 is made to assist. 

5 (g) NO LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF GRANTS.—Re6 ceipt by a qualified organization of a grant under sub7 section (a) shall not preclude the Secretary of the Interior 

8 from making subsequent grants under subsection (a) to 

9 such organization. 

10 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of the 

11 Interior is authorized to provide technical assistance to 

12 qualified organizations with respect to acquisitions of 

13 qualified real property interests exclusively for conserva14 tion purposes. 

15 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 

17 shall submit to Congress a report that summarizes the ac18 tivities carried out under this section. 

19 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) The terms ‘‘conservation purpose’’, ‘‘exclu21 sively for conservation purposes’’, and ‘‘qualified or22 ganization’’ have the meanings such terms have in 

23 section 170(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘qualified real property interest’’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 

3 170(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

4 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

5 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated to 

6 the Secretary of the Interior $10,000,000 from the Land 

7 and Water Conservation Fund for each of fiscal years 

8 2013 through 2022. 

Æ 


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