1.This Act may be cited as the
Clean and Beautiful Communities Act of
2012
.
2.Grants to
facilitate certain acquisitions of property for conservation purposes
(a)The Secretary of the
Interior, acting through the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance
Program of the National Park Service, may make grants to facilitate the
acquisition by a qualified organization of a qualified real property interest
exclusively for conservation purposes, that assist in the funding of
transactional and operational costs associated with the purchase and management
of preserved land or a qualified real property interest (including easements)
including—
(1)stewardship costs, including costs of
standards and practices development and implementation;
(2)land purchase
transaction costs;
(3)costs of preparing
for accreditation associated with land management; and
(4)costs of due diligence, including
appraisal, title, survey, environmental hazard assessment, and recording
costs.
(b)
(1)A person shall be eligible for a grant under this section
only if the person—
(A)is an organization described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under
section 501(a) of such Code; and
(B)is not a State or
local government entity.
(2)To
be eligible to receive a grant under subsection (a), a qualified organization
shall submit to the Secretary of the Interior an application at such time, in
such form, and containing such information as the Secretary shall
require.
(c)In
making grants under this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall give
priority to eligible persons that—
(1)demonstrate a
record of successfully acquiring and competently managing a substantial
portfolio of conserved properties and easement holdings;
(2)have established
and diverse capital and development programs;
(3)demonstrate a
record of working successfully with local and State governmental stakeholders
in building support for conservation acquisitions and leveraging funding
opportunities; and
(4)currently employ
full-time or part-time staff to manage their operations on a nonvoluntary basis
or can demonstrate capacity to employ such staff in the near-term.
(d)A
grant under this section may not be used to pay consideration for the purchase
of any interest in real property.
(e)Grant amount and
durationA grant under this section shall be in an amount of not
more than $500,000 per year for 5 years.
(f)The Secretary of
the Interior may not make a grant under subsection (a) in an amount that
exceeds 50 percent of the costs such grant is made to assist.
(g)No limitation on
number of grantsReceipt by a
qualified organization of a grant under subsection (a) shall not preclude the
Secretary of the Interior from making subsequent grants under subsection (a) to
such organization.
(h)The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to provide
technical assistance to qualified organizations with respect to acquisitions of
qualified real property interests exclusively for conservation purposes.
(i)Not later than 5 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to
Congress a report that summarizes the activities carried out under this
section.
(j)In
this section:
(1)The terms conservation
purpose, exclusively for conservation purposes, and
qualified organization have the meanings such terms have in
section 170(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(2)The term qualified real property
interest has the meaning given such term in section 170(h)(2) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(k)Authorization of
appropriationsTo carry out
this section, there is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the
Interior $10,000,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for each of
fiscal years 2013 through 2022.