II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1277

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals to designate

any portion of their income tax overpayments, and to make other contributions, for the benefit of units of the National Park System.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 8, 1997

Mr. JOHNSON 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 individuals to designate any portion of their income tax

overpayments, and to make other contributions, for the

benefit of units of the National Park System.

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

3 SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS AND CON4 TRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF UNITS OF

5 THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 61 of the

7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at

8 the end the following new part:
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1 ‘‘PART IX—DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS

2 AND CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF

3 UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

‘‘Sec. 6097. Designation.

4 ‘‘SEC. 6097. DESIGNATION.

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, with

6 respect to each taxpayer’s return for the taxable year of

7 the tax imposed by chapter 1, such taxpayer may des8 ignate that—

9 ‘‘(1) a specified portion (but not less than $1)

10 of any overpayment of tax for such taxable year, and

11 ‘‘(2) any cash contribution which the taxpayer

12 includes with such return,

13 shall be used for the benefit of units of the National Park

14 System.

15 ‘‘(b) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—A des16 ignation under subsection (a) may be made with respect

17 to any taxable year only at the time of filing the return

18 of the tax imposed by chapter 1 for such taxable year.

19 Such designation shall be made in such manner as the

20 Secretary prescribes by regulations except that such des21 ignation shall be made either on the first page of the re22 turn or on the page bearing the taxpayer’s signature.

23 ‘‘(c) OVERPAYMENTS TREATED AS REFUNDED.—For

24 purposes of this title, any portion of an overpayment of

25 tax designated under subsection (a) shall be treated as
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1 being refunded to the taxpayer as of the last date pre2 scribed for filing the return of tax imposed by chapter 1

3 (determined without regard to extensions) or, if later, the

4 date the return is filed.’’

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of parts

6 such subchapter A is amended by adding at the end the

7 following new item:

‘‘Part IX. Designation of overpayments and contributions for the

benefit of units of the National Park System.’’

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

9 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

10 December 31, 1997.

11 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PARKS TRUST FUND.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the

13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to trust fund

14 code) is amended by adding at the end the following new

15 section:

16 ‘‘SEC. 9512. NATIONAL PARKS TRUST FUND.

17 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab18 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund

19 to be known as the ‘National Parks Trust Fund’, consist20 ing of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited

21 to the National Parks Trust Fund as provided in this sec22 tion or section 9602(b).

23 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER TO NATIONAL PARKS TRUST FUND

24 OF AMOUNTS DESIGNATED.—There is hereby appro-
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1 priated to the National Parks Trust Fund amounts equiv2 alent to the amounts designated under section 6097 and

3 received in the Treasury.

4 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pay,

6 not less often than quarterly, to the Director of the

7 National Park Service from the National Parks

8 Trust Fund an amount equal to the amount in such

9 Fund as of the time of such payment less any ad10 ministrative expenses of the Secretary which may be

11 paid under paragraph (2). Amounts paid under this

12 subsection shall be used only for design, construc13 tion, rehabilitation, and repair of high priority facili14 ties that directly enhance the experience of park visi15 tors, including natural, cultural, and historical re16 source protection projects, within the units of the

17 National Park System and may not be used for land

18 acquisition.

19 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Amounts in

20 the National Parks Trust Fund shall be available to

21 pay the administrative expenses of the Department

22 of the Treasury directly allocable to—

23 ‘‘(A) modifying the individual income tax

24 return forms to carry out section 6097,
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1 ‘‘(B) carrying out this chapter with respect

2 to such Fund, and

3 ‘‘(C) processing amounts received under

4 section 6097 and transferring such amounts to

5 such Fund.

6 ‘‘(d) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years following the

7 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall

8 transmit to Congress a study of the effects of the program

9 established under the National Parks Trust Fund. The

10 study shall include information on the amount of money

11 paid into such Fund, the projects that were undertaken

12 with funds from such Fund, and any other information

13 that the Secretary deems useful in evaluating the pro14 gram’s effectiveness.’’

15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

16 for such subchapter A is amended by adding at the end

17 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 9512. National Parks Trust Fund.’’

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