IB 

Union Calendar No. 278 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1433 

[Report No. 112–401] 

To protect private property rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 7, 2011 

Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Ms. WATERS, Mr. JONES, Mrs. BONO

MACK, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. WESTMORELAND, 

Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. ROSS of Florida, Mr. GOWDY, Mr. GRIFFIN of 

Arkansas, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. COBLE, Mr. GOODLATTE, and 

Mr. LONG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

FEBRUARY 17, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mr. FORBES, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. 

POSEY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PENCE, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. POE

of Texas, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. AMODEI, and Mr. MCCLINTOCK

FEBRUARY 17, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 7, 2011] 


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A BILL 

To protect private property rights. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Property Rights 

5 Protection Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY 

7 STATES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—No State or political subdivision 

9 of a State shall exercise its power of eminent domain, or 

10 allow the exercise of such power by any person or entity 

11 to which such power has been delegated, over property to 

12 be used for economic development or over property that is 

13 used for economic development within 7 years after that ex14 ercise, if that State or political subdivision receives Federal 

15 economic development funds during any fiscal year in 

16 which the property is so used or intended to be used. 

17 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A violation 

18 of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision shall 

19 render such State or political subdivision ineligible for any 

20 Federal economic development funds for a period of 2 fiscal 

21 years following a final judgment on the merits by a court 

22 of competent jurisdiction that such subsection has been vio23 lated, and any Federal agency charged with distributing 

24 those funds shall withhold them for such 2-year period, and 

25 any such funds distributed to such State or political subVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:37 Feb 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1433.RH H1433

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1 division shall be returned or reimbursed by such State or 

2 political subdivision to the appropriate Federal agency or 

3 authority of the Federal Government, or component thereof. 

4 (c) OPPORTUNITY TO CURE VIOLATION.—A State or 

5 political subdivision shall not be ineligible for any Federal 

6 economic development funds under subsection (b) if such 

7 State or political subdivision returns all real property the 

8 taking of which was found by a court of competent jurisdic9 tion to have constituted a violation of subsection (a) and 

10 replaces any other property destroyed and repairs any other 

11 property damaged as a result of such violation. In addition, 

12 the State must pay applicable penalties and interest to re13 attain eligibility. 

14 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY THE 

15 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

16 The Federal Government or any authority of the Fed17 eral Government shall not exercise its power of eminent do18 main to be used for economic development. 

19 SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

20 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any (1) owner of private 

21 property whose property is subject to eminent domain who 

22 suffers injury as a result of a violation of any provision 

23 of this Act with respect to that property, or (2) any tenant 

24 of property that is subject to eminent domain who suffers 

25 injury as a result of a violation of any provision of this 


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1 Act with respect to that property, may bring an action to 

2 enforce any provision of this Act in the appropriate Federal 

3 or State court. A State shall not be immune under the 11th 

4 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States from 

5 any such action in a Federal or State court of competent 

6 jurisdiction. In such action, the defendant has the burden 

7 to show by clear and convincing evidence that the taking 

8 is not for economic development. Any such property owner 

9 or tenant may also seek an appropriate relief through a 

10 preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order. 

11 (b) LIMITATION ON BRINGING ACTION.—An action 

12 brought by a property owner or tenant under this Act may 

13 be brought if the property is used for economic development 

14 following the conclusion of any condemnation proceedings 

15 condemning the property of such property owner or tenant, 

16 but shall not be brought later than seven years following 

17 the conclusion of any such proceedings. 

18 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any ac19 tion or proceeding under this Act, the court shall allow a 

20 prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorneys’ fee as part of 

21 the costs, and include expert fees as part of the attorneys’ 

22 fee. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORTING OF VIOLATIONS TO ATTORNEY GEN2 ERAL. 

3 (a) SUBMISSION OF REPORT TO ATTORNEY GEN4 ERAL.—Any (1) owner of private property whose property 

5 is subject to eminent domain who suffers injury as a result 

6 of a violation of any provision of this Act with respect to 

7 that property, or (2) any tenant of property that is subject 

8 to eminent domain who suffers injury as a result of a viola9 tion of any provision of this Act with respect to that prop10 erty, may report a violation by the Federal Government, 

11 any authority of the Federal Government, State, or political 

12 subdivision of a State to the Attorney General. 

13 (b) INVESTIGATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Upon 

14 receiving a report of an alleged violation, the Attorney Gen15 eral shall conduct an investigation to determine whether a 

16 violation exists. 

17 (c) NOTIFICATION OF VIOLATION.—If the Attorney 

18 General concludes that a violation does exist, then the Attor19 ney General shall notify the Federal Government, authority 

20 of the Federal Government, State, or political subdivision 

21 of a State that the Attorney General has determined that 

22 it is in violation of the Act. The notification shall further 

23 provide that the Federal Government, State, or political 

24 subdivision of a State has 90 days from the date of the noti25 fication to demonstrate to the Attorney General either that 

26 (1) it is not in violation of the Act or (2) that it has cured 


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1 its violation by returning all real property the taking of 

2 which the Attorney General finds to have constituted a vio3 lation of the Act and replacing any other property destroyed 

4 and repairing any other property damaged as a result of 

5 such violation. 

6 (d) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S BRINGING OF ACTION TO

7 ENFORCE ACT.—If, at the end of the 90-day period de8 scribed in subsection (c), the Attorney General determines 

9 that the Federal Government, authority of the Federal Gov10 ernment, State, or political subdivision of a State is still 

11 violating the Act or has not cured its violation as described 

12 in subsection (c), then the Attorney General will bring an 

13 action to enforce the Act unless the property owner or ten14 ant who reported the violation has already brought an ac15 tion to enforce the Act. In such a case, the Attorney General 

16 shall intervene if it determines that intervention is nec17 essary in order to enforce the Act. The Attorney General 

18 may file its lawsuit to enforce the Act in the appropriate 

19 Federal or State court. A State shall not be immune under 

20 the 11th Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

21 States from any such action in a Federal or State court 

22 of competent jurisdiction. In such action, the defendant has 

23 the burden to show by clear and convincing evidence that 

24 the taking is not for economic development. The Attorney 


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1 General may seek any appropriate relief through a prelimi2 nary injunction or a temporary restraining order. 

3 (e) LIMITATION ON BRINGING ACTION.—An action 

4 brought by the Attorney General under this Act may be 

5 brought if the property is used for economic development 

6 following the conclusion of any condemnation proceedings 

7 condemning the property of an owner or tenant who reports 

8 a violation of the Act to the Attorney General, but shall 

9 not be brought later than seven years following the conclu10 sion of any such proceedings. 

11 (f) ATTORNEYS’ FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any ac12 tion or proceeding under this Act brought by the Attorney 

13 General, the court shall, if the Attorney General is a pre14 vailing plaintiff, award the Attorney General a reasonable 

15 attorneys’ fee as part of the costs, and include expert fees 

16 as part of the attorneys’ fee. 

17 SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

18 (a) NOTIFICATION TO STATES AND POLITICAL SUB19 DIVISIONS.— 

20 (1) Not later than 30 days after the enactment 

21 of this Act, the Attorney General shall provide to the 

22 chief executive officer of each State the text of this Act 

23 and a description of the rights of property owners 

24 and tenants under this Act. 


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1 (2) Not later than 120 days after the enactment 

2 of this Act, the Attorney General shall compile a list 

3 of the Federal laws under which Federal economic de4 velopment funds are distributed. The Attorney Gen5 eral shall compile annual revisions of such list as nec6 essary. Such list and any successive revisions of such 

7 list shall be communicated by the Attorney General to 

8 the chief executive officer of each State and also made 

9 available on the Internet website maintained by the 

10 United States Department of Justice for use by the 

11 public and by the authorities in each State and polit12 ical subdivisions of each State empowered to take pri13 vate property and convert it to public use subject to 

14 just compensation for the taking. 

15 (b) NOTIFICATION TO PROPERTY OWNERS AND TEN16 ANTS.—Not later than 30 days after the enactment of this 

17 Act, the Attorney General shall publish in the Federal Reg18 ister and make available on the Internet website main19 tained by the United States Department of Justice a notice 

20 containing the text of this Act and a description of the 

21 rights of property owners and tenants under this Act. 

22 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

23 (a) BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every subsequent 

25 year thereafter, the Attorney General shall transmit a reVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:37 Feb 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1433.RH H1433

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1 port identifying States or political subdivisions that have 

2 used eminent domain in violation of this Act to the Chair3 man and Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judici4 ary of the House of Representatives and to the Chairman 

5 and Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary 

6 of the Senate. The report shall— 

7 (1) identify all private rights of action brought 

8 as a result of a State’s or political subdivision’s viola9 tion of this Act; 

10 (2) identify all violations reported by property 

11 owners and tenants under section 5(c) of this Act; 

12 (3) identify the percentage of minority residents 

13 compared to the surrounding nonminority residents 

14 and the median incomes of those impacted by a viola15 tion of this Act; 

16 (4) identify all lawsuits brought by the Attorney 

17 General under section 5(d) of this Act; 

18 (5) identify all States or political subdivisions 

19 that have lost Federal economic development funds as 

20 a result of a violation of this Act, as well as describe 

21 the type and amount of Federal economic development 

22 funds lost in each State or political subdivision and 

23 the Agency that is responsible for withholding such 

24 funds; and 


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1 (6) discuss all instances in which a State or po2 litical subdivision has cured a violation as described 

3 in section 2(c) of this Act. 

4 (b) DUTY OF STATES.—Each State and local authority 

5 that is subject to a private right of action under this Act 

6 shall have the duty to report to the Attorney General such 

7 information with respect to such State and local authorities 

8 as the Attorney General needs to make the report required 

9 under subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING RURAL AMERICA. 

11 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

12 (1) The founders realized the fundamental im13 portance of property rights when they codified the 

14 Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Con15 stitution, which requires that private property shall 

16 not be taken ‘‘for public use, without just compensa17 tion’’. 

18 (2) Rural lands are unique in that they are not 

19 traditionally considered high tax revenue-generating 

20 properties for State and local governments. In addi21 tion, farmland and forest land owners need to have 

22 long-term certainty regarding their property rights in 

23 order to make the investment decisions to commit 

24 land to these uses. 


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1 (3) Ownership rights in rural land are funda2 mental building blocks for our Nation’s agriculture 

3 industry, which continues to be one of the most im4 portant economic sectors of our economy. 

5 (4) In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision 

6 in Kelo v. City of New London, abuse of eminent do7 main is a threat to the property rights of all private 

8 property owners, including rural land owners. 

9 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

10 that the use of eminent domain for the purpose of economic 

11 development is a threat to agricultural and other property 

12 in rural America and that the Congress should protect the 

13 property rights of Americans, including those who reside 

14 in rural areas. Property rights are central to liberty in this 

15 country and to our economy. The use of eminent domain 

16 to take farmland and other rural property for economic de17 velopment threatens liberty, rural economies, and the econ18 omy of the United States. The taking of farmland and rural 

19 property will have a direct impact on existing irrigation 

20 and reclamation projects. Furthermore, the use of eminent 

21 domain to take rural private property for private commer22 cial uses will force increasing numbers of activities from 

23 private property onto this Nation’s public lands, including 

24 its National forests, National parks and wildlife refuges. 

25 This increase can overburden the infrastructure of these 


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1 lands, reducing the enjoyment of such lands for all citizens. 

2 Americans should not have to fear the government’s taking 

3 their homes, farms, or businesses to give to other persons. 

4 Governments should not abuse the power of eminent domain 

5 to force rural property owners from their land in order to 

6 develop rural land into industrial and commercial prop7 erty. Congress has a duty to protect the property rights of 

8 rural Americans in the face of eminent domain abuse. 

9 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

11 (1) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—The term ‘‘eco12 nomic development’’ means taking private property, 

13 without the consent of the owner, and conveying or 

14 leasing such property from one private person or enti15 ty to another private person or entity for commercial 

16 enterprise carried on for profit, or to increase tax rev17 enue, tax base, employment, or general economic 

18 health, except that such term shall not include— 

19 (A) conveying private property— 

20 (i) to public ownership, such as for a 

21 road, hospital, airport, or military base; 

22 (ii) to an entity, such as a common 

23 carrier, that makes the property available to 

24 the general public as of right, such as a 

25 railroad or public facility; 


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1 (iii) for use as a road or other right of 

2 way or means, open to the public for trans3 portation, whether free or by toll; and 

4 (iv) for use as an aqueduct, flood con5 trol facility, pipeline, or similar use; 

6 (B) removing harmful uses of land provided 

7 such uses constitute an immediate threat to pub8 lic health and safety; 

9 (C) leasing property to a private person or 

10 entity that occupies an incidental part of public 

11 property or a public facility, such as a retail es12 tablishment on the ground floor of a public 

13 building; 

14 (D) acquiring abandoned property; 

15 (E) clearing defective chains of title; 

16 (F) taking private property for use by a 

17 public utility; and 

18 (G) redeveloping of a brownfield site as de19 fined in the Small Business Liability Relief and 

20 Brownfields Revitalization Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 9601(39)). 

22 (2) FEDERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

23 FUNDS.—The term ‘‘Federal economic development 

24 funds’’ means any Federal funds distributed to or 

25 through States or political subdivisions of States 


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1 under Federal laws designed to improve or increase 

2 the size of the economies of States or political subdivi3 sions of States. 

4 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 

5 several States, the District of Columbia, the Common6 wealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or pos7 session of the United States. 

8 SEC. 10. SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 (a) SEVERABILITY.—The provisions of this Act are sev10 erable. If any provision of this Act, or any application 

11 thereof, is found unconstitutional, that finding shall not af12 fect any provision or application of the Act not so adju13 dicated. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect upon 

15 the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, but shall not apply to 

17 any project for which condemnation proceedings have been 

18 initiated prior to the date of enactment. 

19 SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the policy of the United States to encourage, sup21 port, and promote the private ownership of property and 

22 to ensure that the constitutional and other legal rights of 

23 private property owners are protected by the Federal Gov24 ernment. 


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1 SEC. 12. BROAD CONSTRUCTION. 

2 This Act shall be construed in favor of a broad protec3 tion of private property rights, to the maximum extent per4 mitted by the terms of this Act and the Constitution. 

5 SEC. 13. LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. 

6 Nothing in this Act may be construed to supersede, 

7 limit, or otherwise affect any provision of the Uniform Relo8 cation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies 

9 Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 14. RELIGIOUS AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 

11 (a) PROHIBITION ON STATES.—No State or political 

12 subdivision of a State shall exercise its power of eminent 

13 domain, or allow the exercise of such power by any person 

14 or entity to which such power has been delegated, over prop15 erty of a religious or other nonprofit organization by reason 

16 of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such organization, 

17 or any quality related thereto if that State or political sub18 division receives Federal economic development funds dur19 ing any fiscal year in which it does so. 

20 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A violation 

21 of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision shall 

22 render such State or political subdivision ineligible for any 

23 Federal economic development funds for a period of 2 fiscal 

24 years following a final judgment on the merits by a court 

25 of competent jurisdiction that such subsection has been vio26 lated, and any Federal agency charged with distributing 


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1 those funds shall withhold them for such 2-year period, and 

2 any such funds distributed to such State or political sub3 division shall be returned or reimbursed by such State or 

4 political subdivision to the appropriate Federal agency or 

5 authority of the Federal Government, or component thereof. 

6 (c) PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

7 Federal Government or any authority of the Federal Gov8 ernment shall not exercise its power of eminent domain over 

9 property of a religious or other nonprofit organization by 

10 reason of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such organi11 zation, or any quality related thereto. 

12 SEC. 15. REPORT BY FEDERAL AGENCIES ON REGULATIONS 

13 AND PROCEDURES RELATING TO EMINENT 

14 DOMAIN. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act, the head of each Executive department and 

17 agency shall review all rules, regulations, and procedures 

18 and report to the Attorney General on the activities of that 

19 department or agency to bring its rules, regulations and 

20 procedures into compliance with this Act. 

21 SEC. 16. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that any and all precautions 

23 shall be taken by the government to avoid the unfair or un24 reasonable taking of property away from survivors of Hur25 ricane Katrina who own, were bequeathed, or assigned such 


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1 property, for economic development purposes or for the pri2 vate use of others. 

3 SEC. 17. DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT ON MINORITIES. 

4 If the court determines that a violation of this Act has 

5 occurred, and that the violation has a disproportionately 

6 high impact on the poor or minorities, the Attorney General 

7 shall use reasonable efforts to locate and inform former own8 ers and tenants of the violation and any remedies they may 

9 have. 


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Union Calendar No. 278 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1433 

[Report No. 112–401] 

A BILL 

To protect private property rights. 

FEBRUARY 17, 2012 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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