II 

Calendar No. 596 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3873 

To protect private property rights. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 6), 2006 

Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read the first time 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To protect private property rights. 

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 

5 Rights Protection Act of 2006’’. 

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 


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

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

3 be used for economic development or over property that 

4 is subsequently used for economic development, if that 

5 State or political subdivision receives Federal economic de6 velopment funds during any fiscal year in which it does 

7 so. 

8 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A viola9 tion of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision 

10 shall render such State or political subdivision ineligible 

11 for any Federal economic development funds for a period 

12 of 2 fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits 

13 by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection 

14 has been violated, and any Federal agency charged with 

15 distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2- 

16 year period, and any such funds distributed to such State 

17 or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by 

18 such State or political subdivision to the appropriate Fed19 eral agency or authority of the Federal Government, or 

20 component thereof. 

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

22 political subdivision shall not be ineligible for any Federal 

23 economic development funds under subsection (b) if such 

24 State or political subdivision returns all real property the 

25 taking of which was found by a court of competent jurisVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:45 Sep 09, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3873.PCS S3873

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1 diction to have constituted a violation of subsection (a) 

2 and replaces any other property destroyed and repairs any 

3 other property damaged as a result of such violation. 

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

5 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

6 The Federal Government or any authority of the Fed7 eral Government shall not exercise its power of eminent 

8 domain to be used for economic development. 

9 SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

10 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any owner of private prop11 erty who suffers injury as a result of a violation of any 

12 provision of this Act may bring an action to enforce any 

13 provision of this Act in the appropriate Federal or State 

14 court, and a State shall not be immune under the eleventh 

15 amendment to the Constitution of the United States from 

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

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

18 to show by clear and convincing evidence that the taking 

19 is not for economic development. Any such property owner 

20 may also seek any appropriate relief through a preliminary 

21 injunction or a temporary restraining order. 

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

23 brought under this Act may be brought if the property 

24 is used for economic development following the conclusion 

25 of any condemnation proceedings condemning the private 


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1 property of such property owner, but shall not be brought 

2 later than seven years following the conclusion of any such 

3 proceedings and the subsequent use of such condemned 

4 property for economic development. 

5 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any 

6 action or proceeding under this Act, the court shall allow 

7 a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorneys’ fee as part 

8 of the costs, and include expert fees as part of the attor9 neys’ fee. 

10 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

11 (a) NOTIFICATION TO STATES AND POLITICAL SUB12 DIVISIONS.— 

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

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

15 chief executive officer of each State the text of this 

16 Act and a description of the rights of property own17 ers under this Act. 

18 (2) Not later than 120 days after the enact19 ment of this Act, the Attorney General shall compile 

20 a list of the Federal laws under which Federal eco21 nomic development funds are distributed. The Attor22 ney General shall compile annual revisions of such 

23 list as necessary. Such list and any successive revi24 sions of such list shall be communicated by the At25 torney General to the chief executive officer of each 


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1 State and also made available on the Internet 

2 website maintained by the United States Depart3 ment of Justice for use by the public and by the au4 thorities in each State and political subdivisions of 

5 each State empowered to take private property and 

6 convert it to public use subject to just compensation 

7 for the taking. 

8 (b) NOTIFICATION TO PROPERTY OWNERS.—Not 

9 later than 30 days after the enactment of this Act, the 

10 Attorney General shall publish in the Federal Register and 

11 make available on the Internet website maintained by the 

12 United States Department of Justice a notice containing 

13 the text of this Act and a description of the rights of prop14 erty owners under this Act. 

15 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

16 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act, and every subsequent year thereafter, the At18 torney General shall transmit a report identifying States 

19 or political subdivisions that have used eminent domain 

20 in violation of this Act to the Chairman and Ranking 

21 Member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 

22 of Representatives and to the Chairman and Ranking 

23 Member of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. 

24 The report shall— 


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1 (1) identify all private rights of action brought 

2 as a result of a State’s or political subdivision’s vio3 lation of this Act; 

4 (2) identify all States or political subdivisions 

5 that have lost Federal economic development funds 

6 as a result of a violation of this Act, as well as de7 scribe the type and amount of Federal economic de8 velopment funds lost in each State or political sub9 division and the Agency that is responsible for with10 holding such funds; 

11 (3) discuss all instances in which a State or po12 litical subdivision has cured a violation as described 

13 in section 2(c) of this Act. 

14 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING RURAL AMERICA. 

15 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) The founders realized the fundamental im17 portance of property rights when they codified the 

18 Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Con19 stitution, which requires that private property shall 

20 not be taken ‘‘for public use, without just compensa21 tion’’. 

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

23 traditionally considered high tax revenue-generating 

24 properties for State and local governments. In addi25 tion, farmland and forest land owners need to have 


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1 long-term certainty regarding their property rights 

2 in order to make the investment decisions to commit 

3 land to these uses. 

4 (3) Ownership rights in rural land are funda5 mental building blocks for our Nation’s agriculture 

6 industry, which continues to be one of the most im7 portant economic sectors of our economy. 

8 (4) In the wake of the Supreme Court’s deci9 sion in Kelo v. City of New London, abuse of emi10 nent domain is a threat to the property rights of all 

11 private property owners, including rural land own12 ers. 

13 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con14 gress that the use of eminent domain for the purpose of 

15 economic development is a threat to agricultural and other 

16 property in rural America and that the Congress should 

17 protect the property rights of Americans, including those 

18 who reside in rural areas. Property rights are central to 

19 liberty in this country and to our economy. The use of 

20 eminent domain to take farmland and other rural property 

21 for economic development threatens liberty, rural econo22 mies, and the economy of the United States. The taking 

23 of farmland and rural property will have a direct impact 

24 on existing irrigation and reclamation projects. Further25 more, the use of eminent domain to take rural private 


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1 property for private commercial uses will force increasing 

2 numbers of activities from private property onto this Na3 tion’s public lands, including its National forests, National 

4 parks and wildlife refuges. This increase can overburden 

5 the infrastructure of these lands, reducing the enjoyment 

6 of such lands for all citizens. Americans should not have 

7 to fear the government’s taking their homes, farms, or 

8 businesses to give to other persons. Governments should 

9 not abuse the power of eminent domain to force rural 

10 property owners from their land in order to develop rural 

11 land into industrial and commercial property. Congress 

12 has a duty to protect the property rights of rural Ameri13 cans in the face of eminent domain abuse. 

14 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

16 (1) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—The term 

17 ‘‘economic development’’ means taking private prop18 erty, without the consent of the owner, and con19 veying or leasing such property from one private 

20 person or entity to another private person or entity 

21 for commercial enterprise carried on for profit, or to 

22 increase tax revenue, tax base, employment, or gen23 eral economic health, except that such term shall not 

24 include— 

25 (A) conveying private property— 


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

2 road, hospital, airport, or military base; 

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

4 carrier, that makes the property available 

5 to the general public as of right, such as 

6 a railroad or public facility; 

7 (iii) for use as a road or other right 

8 of way or means, open to the public for 

9 transportation, whether free or by toll; 

10 (iv) for use as an aqueduct, flood con11 trol facility, pipeline, or similar use; 

12 (B) removing harmful uses of land pro13 vided such uses constitute an immediate threat 

14 to public health and safety; 

15 (C) leasing property to a private person or 

16 entity that occupies an incidental part of public 

17 property or a public facility, such as a retail es18 tablishment on the ground floor of a public 

19 building; 

20 (D) acquiring abandoned property; 

21 (E) clearing defective chains of title; 

22 (F) taking private property for use by a 

23 public utility; and 

24 (G) redeveloping of a brownfield site as de25 fined in the Small Business Liability Relief and 


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

2 9601(39)). 

3 (2) FEDERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

4 FUNDS.—The term ‘‘Federal economic development 

5 funds’’ means any Federal funds distributed to or 

6 through States or political subdivisions of States 

7 under Federal laws designed to improve or increase 

8 the size of the economies of States or political sub9 divisions of States. 

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

11 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other terri13 tory or possession of the United States. 

14 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 (a) SEVERABILITY.—The provisions of this Act are 

16 severable. If any provision of this Act, or any application 

17 thereof, is found unconstitutional, that finding shall not 

18 affect any provision or application of the Act not so adju19 dicated. 

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

21 upon the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, but shall not apply 

23 to any project for which condemnation proceedings have 

24 been initiated prior to the date of enactment. 


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1 SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the policy of the United States to encourage, 

3 support, and promote the private ownership of property 

4 and to ensure that the constitutional and other legal rights 

5 of private property owners are protected by the Federal 

6 Government. 

7 SEC. 11. BROAD CONSTRUCTION. 

8 This Act shall be construed in favor of a broad pro9 tection of private property rights, to the maximum extent 

10 permitted by the terms of this Act and the Constitution. 

11 SEC. 12. LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. 

12 Nothing in this Act may be construed to supersede, 

13 limit, or otherwise affect any provision of the Uniform Re14 location Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies 

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

16 SEC. 13. RELIGIOUS AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 

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

18 subdivision of a State shall exercise its power of eminent 

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

20 or entity to which such power has been delegated, over 

21 property of a religious or other nonprofit organization by 

22 reason of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such orga23 nization, or any quality related thereto if that State or 

24 political subdivision receives Federal economic develop25 ment funds during any fiscal year in which it does so. 


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1 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A viola2 tion of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision 

3 shall render such State or political subdivision ineligible 

4 for any Federal economic development funds for a period 

5 of 2 fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits 

6 by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection 

7 has been violated, and any Federal agency charged with 

8 distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2- 

9 year period, and any such funds distributed to such State 

10 or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by 

11 such State or political subdivision to the appropriate Fed12 eral agency or authority of the Federal Government, or 

13 component thereof. 

14 (c) PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

15 Federal Government or any authority of the Federal Gov16 ernment shall not exercise its power of eminent domain 

17 over property of a religious or other nonprofit organization 

18 by reason of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such 

19 organization, or any quality related thereto. 

20 SEC. 14. REPORT BY FEDERAL AGENCIES ON REGULATIONS 

21 AND PROCEDURES RELATING TO EMINENT 

22 DOMAIN. 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the head of each Executive department 

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1 dures and report to the Attorney General on the activities 

2 of that department or agency to bring its rules, regula3 tions and procedures into compliance with this Act. 

4 SEC. 15. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that any and all pre6 cautions shall be taken by the government to avoid the 

7 unfair or unreasonable taking of property away from sur8 vivors of Hurricane Katrina who own, were bequeathed, 

9 or assigned such property, for economic development pur10 poses or for the private use of others. 


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Calendar No. 596 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3873 

A BILL 

To protect private property rights. 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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