FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-7601
September 23, 1999
No. OV-11
Congressman Amo Houghton (R-NY), Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the impact of Federal tax laws on environmental conservation and preservation. The hearing will take place on Thursday, September 30, 1999, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include representatives from the Administration, land conservation and environmental protection organizations, and other experts. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The Internal Revenue Code includes a number of provisions that provide incentives or tax benefits for land conservation and environmental preservation. Among them are the deductibility of gifts of land to charitable institutions [sec. 170]; the deductibility of gifts of conservation easements on land to charitable institutions and governments [sec. 170(h)]; expensing of environmental remediation costs [sec. 198]; the deductibility of gifts of land from a taxable estate [sec. 2055]; the deductibility of conservation easements from a taxable estate [sec. 2055(f)]; an exclusion from estate taxes for gifts of conservation easements on lands within 25 miles of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), national park or wilderness or within 10 miles of an urban national forest [sec. 2031(c)]; a deduction for a post-mortem election to donate a conservation easement in certain areas [sec. 2031(c)]; a post-mortem election to terminate previously reserved development rights in certain areas [sec. 2031(c)(5)]; valuation of agricultural lands at agricultural value for purposes of estate tax, if the land is family-owned and used for agricultural purposes for 10 years after death [sec. 2032(a)]; and an exclusion from income of certain government conservation payments [sec. 126].
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Houghton stated: "So much of our country's beautiful green space is under development pressure. I am pleased that the American Farm Protection Act, a bill then-Rep. L.F. Payne and I introduced, was enacted in the last Congress. We need to see whether it is working as well as we had hoped. We also need to find out how the other current tax incentives are working and what further steps are needed to encourage people to protect land and other spaces."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The Subcommittee will examine the impact of tax incentives in current law, as well as proposals referred to the Committee on Ways and Means to encourage environmental protections, conservation, and preservation. The hearing will follow up on the Subcommittee's July 11, 1996, hearing on the impact of Federal tax law on land use.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, October 14, 1999, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Oversight office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.