The Administration should assess the impacts of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 on land use and development patterns and community reinvestment. There are two facets to this assessment. First, this tax law virtually repeals the capital gains tax on the sale of personal homes. The Environmental Law Institute estimates that the law could affect nearly $4 million in sales of existing homes each year.39 At the same time, the 1997 act creates new opportunities for urban revitalization by making housing rehabilitation by owner-occupants an opportunity to generate tax-free income. It is unclear, however, whether this rehabilitation will occur in urban areas in need of revitalization. Second, the law includes the first new tax incentive for land conservation in over a decade which makes certain land in or near a metropolitan area, national park, wilderness area, or urban national forest eligible for favorable estate tax treatment through the donation of a qualified perpetual conservation easement. USDA, working with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and other appropriate agencies, should identify how the conservation incentive provisions should work.