I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2290
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax incentive
for land sales for conservation purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 21, 2001
Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. TANNER, Mr.
BASS, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. MCHUGH, and Mr. SUNUNU) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways
and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
a tax incentive for land sales for conservation purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conservation Tax In-
centives Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF 50 PERCENT OF GAIN ON SALES OF
LAND OR INTERESTS IN LAND OR WATER TO
ELIGIBLE 
ENTITIES 
FOR 
CONSERVATION
PURPOSES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap-
ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to
items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended
by inserting after section 121 the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 121A. 50-PERCENT EXCLUSION OF GAIN ON SALES OF
LAND OR INTERESTS IN LAND OR WATER TO
ELIGIBLE 
ENTITIES 
FOR 
CONSERVATION
PURPOSES.
‘‘(a) EXCLUSION.—Gross income shall not include 50
percent of any gain from the sale of land or an interest
in land or water (determined without regard to any im-
provements) to an eligible entity if—
‘‘(1) such land or interest in land or water was
owned by the taxpayer or a member of the tax-
payer’s family (as defined in section 2032A(e)(2)) at
all times during the 3-year period ending on the date
of the sale, and
‘‘(2) such land or interest in land or water is
being acquired by an eligible entity which provides
the taxpayer, at the time of acquisition, a written
letter of intent which shall include the following
statement: ‘The purchaser’s intent is that this acqui-
sition will serve 1 or more of the conservation pur-
poses specified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section
170(h)(4)(A).
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity described
in section 170(h)(3) or an agency or department thereof
and which is organized and at all times operated prin-
cipally for 1 or more of the conservation purposes specified
in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section 170(h)(4)(A).
‘‘(c) STOCK IN HOLDING CORPORATIONS.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘land or an interest in land
or water’ shall include a controlling stock interest in any
corporation if the fair market value of the corporation’s
land or interests in land or water equals or exceeds 90
percent of the fair market value of all of such corpora-
tion’s assets at all times during the 3-year period ending
on the date of the sale. For purposes of the preceding sen-
tence, the term ‘control’ means ownership of stock in a
corporation which meets the requirements of section
1504(a)(2) (determined by substituting ‘50 percent’ for
‘80 percent’ each place it appears).’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
121 the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 121A. 50-percent exclusion of gain on sales of land or inter-
ests in land or water to eligible entities for con-
servation purposes.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to sales occurring on or after the
date of enactment of this Act.
Æ