II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2603 

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 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Ms. WARREN, and Ms. BALDWIN) 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.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘trail cor3 ridor’ means so much of the corridor of a trail 

4 as is— 

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

6 less than 150 feet wide on each side of 

7 such trail, and 

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

9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) LESS THAN 150 FEET WIDE ON A

11 SIDE OF THE TRAIL.—In the case of an in12 terest in real property of the taxpayer 

13 which includes less than 150 feet on either 

14 side of the trail, the trail corridor shall in15 clude the entire distance with respect to 

16 such interest on such side. 

17 ‘‘(ii) BUILDING AND STRUCTURES

18 NEAR THE TRAIL.—In the case of an inter19 est in real property of the taxpayer which 

20 includes a residence or structure owned by 

21 the taxpayer which is located less than 150 

22 feet from the trail, the trail corridor for 

23 the side of the trail on which the residence 

24 or structure is located shall include such 


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1 distance from the trail as is determined 

2 appropriate by the taxpayer. 

3 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED CONSERVATION CONTRIBU4 TION; QUALIFIED REAL PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 

5 terms ‘qualified conservation contribution’ and 

6 ‘qualified real property interest’ have the respective 

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

8 that paragraph (2)(A) thereof shall be applied with9 out regard to any qualified mineral interest (as de10 fined in paragraph (6) thereof). 

11 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

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

13 of any National Scenic Trail conservation contribu14 tion shall be determined in the same manner as 

15 qualified conservation contributions under section 

16 170, except that in any case, to the extent prac17 ticable, fair market value shall be determined by ref18 erence to the highest and best use of the real prop19 erty with respect to such contribution. 

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

21 under this section may not be revoked. 

22 ‘‘(3) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc23 tion shall be allowed under this chapter with respect 

24 to any qualified conservation contribution with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Mar 29, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2603.IS S2603

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1 spect to which an election is made under this sec2 tion. 

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

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

5 GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.—So much of the credit 

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

7 taxable year (determined without regard to this sub8 section) that is attributable to property used in a 

9 trade or business or held for the production of in10 come shall be treated as a credit listed in section 

11 38(b) for such taxable year (and not allowed under 

12 subsection (a)). 

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

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

15 taxable year (determined after the application of 

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

17 under subpart A for such taxable year. 

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

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

20 under subsection (a) exceeds— 

21 ‘‘(A) the limitation imposed by section 

22 26(a) for any taxable year, reduced by 

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

24 under subpart A (other than this section) for 

25 the taxable year, 


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1 such excess shall be carried to the succeeding tax2 able year and added to the credit allowable under 

3 subsection (a) for such succeeding taxable year. 

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

5 forward under this subsection to any taxable year 

6 following the tenth taxable year after the taxable 

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

8 preceding sentence, credits shall be treated as used 

9 on a first-in first-out basis.’’. 

10 (b) CONTINUED USE NOT INCONSISTENT WITH

11 CONSERVATION PURPOSES.—A contribution of an interest 

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

13 Scenic Trail conservation contribution (as defined in sec14 tion 30E(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) solely 

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

16 for recreational or agricultural use (including motor vehi17 cle use related thereto), if, under the circumstances, such 

18 use does not impair significant conservation interests and 

19 is not inconsistent with the purposes of the National 

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

21 (c) STUDY REGARDING EFFICACY OF NATIONAL

22 SCENIC TRAIL CONSERVATION CREDIT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte24 rior shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury, study— 


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1 (A) the efficacy of the National Scenic 

2 Trail conservation credit under section 30E of 

3 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in com4 pleting, extending, and increasing the number 

5 of National Scenic Trails (as defined in section 

6 30E(b) of such Code), and 

7 (B) the feasibility and estimated costs and 

8 benefits of— 

9 (i) making such credit refundable (in 

10 whole or in part), and 

11 (ii) allowing transfer of such credit. 

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

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

14 the Interior shall submit a report to Congress on the 

15 results of the study conducted under this subsection. 

16 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

18 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new item: 

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

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

21 this section shall apply to contributions made after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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