Spaceport Equality Act of 2006 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the issuance of tax-exempt facility bonds for spaceports.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3706 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3706
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat spaceports like
airports under the exempt facility bond rules.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 20, 2006
Mr. Martinez (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mrs.
Hutchison, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Cornyn) 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 treat spaceports like
airports under the exempt facility bond rules.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Spaceport Equality Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. SPACEPORTS TREATED LIKE AIRPORTS UNDER EXEMPT FACILITY BOND
RULES.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 142(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exempt facility bonds) is amended to
read as follows:
``(1) airports and spaceports,''.
(b) Treatment of Ground Leases.--Paragraph (1) of section 142(b) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to certain facilities must
be governmentally owned) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subparagraph:
``(C) Special rule for spaceport ground leases.--
For purposes of subparagraph (A), spaceport property
which is located on land owned by the United States and
which is used by a governmental unit pursuant to a
lease (as defined in section 168(h)(7)) from the United
States shall be treated as owned by such unit if--
``(i) the lease term (within the meaning of
section 168(i)(3)) is at least 15 years, and
``(ii) such unit would be treated as owning
such property if such lease term were equal to
the useful life of such property.''.
(c) Definition of Spaceport.--Section 142 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(n) Spaceport.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of subsection (a)(1), the
term `spaceport' means--
``(A) any facility directly related and essential
to servicing spacecraft, enabling spacecraft to launch
or reenter, or transferring passengers or space cargo
to or from spacecraft, but only if such facility is
located at, or in close proximity to, the launch site
or reentry site, and
``(B) any other functionally related and
subordinate facility at or adjacent to the launch site
or reentry site at which launch services or reentry
services are provided, including a launch control
center, repair shop, maintenance or overhaul facility,
and rocket assembly facility.
``(2) Additional terms.--For purposes of paragraph (1)--
``(A) Space cargo.--The term `space cargo' includes
satellites, scientific experiments, other property
transported into space, and any other type of payload,
whether or not such property returns from space.
``(B) Spacecraft.--The term `spacecraft' means a
launch vehicle or a reentry vehicle.
``(C) Other terms.--The terms `launch', `launch
site', `launch services', `launch vehicle', `payload',
`reenter', `reentry services', `reentry site', and
`reentry vehicle' shall have the respective meanings
given to such terms by section 70102 of title 49,
United States Code (as in effect on the date of
enactment of this subsection).''.
(d) Exception From Federally Guaranteed Bond Prohibition.--
Paragraph (3) of section 149(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(relating to exceptions) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subparagraph:
``(E) Exception for spaceports.--Paragraph (1)
shall not apply to any exempt facility bond issued as
part of an issue described in paragraph (1) of section
142(a) to provide a spaceport in situations where--
``(i) the guarantee of the United States
(or an agency or instrumentality thereof) is
the result of payment of rent, user fees, or
other charges by the United States (or any
agency or instrumentality thereof), and
``(ii) the payment of the rent, user fees,
or other charges is for, and conditioned upon,
the use of the spaceport by the United States
(or any agency or instrumentality thereof).''.
(e) Conforming Amendment.--The heading for section 142(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ``Spaceports,''
after ``Airports,''.
(f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to obligations issued after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8066-8068)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8068)
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