I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1885 
To protect private property rights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 2, 2009 
Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. CLAY, 
Mr. COBLE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. EMERSON, 
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, 
Mr. HELLER, Mr. HERGER, Mr. HOLT, Mr. ISSA, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK of 
Arizona, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. ROHRABACHER, 
Mr. ROYCE, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. 
SMITH of Texas, and Mr. WAMP) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To protect private property rights. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Property 
Rights Protection Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY 
STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No State or political subdivision 
of a State shall exercise its power of eminent domain, or 
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allow the exercise of such power by any person or entity 
to which such power has been delegated, over property to 
be used for economic development or over property that 
is used for economic development within 7 years after that 
exercise, if that State or political subdivision receives Fed-
eral economic development funds during any fiscal year 
in which the property is so used or intended to be used. 
(b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A viola-
tion of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision 
shall render such State or political subdivision ineligible 
for any Federal economic development funds for a period 
of 2 fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits 
by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection 
has been violated, and any Federal agency charged with 
distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2- 
year period, and any such funds distributed to such State 
or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by 
such State or political subdivision to the appropriate Fed-
eral agency or authority of the Federal Government, or 
component thereof. 
(c) OPPORTUNITY TO CURE VIOLATION.—A State or 
political subdivision shall not be ineligible for any Federal 
economic development funds under subsection (b) if such 
State or political subdivision returns all real property the 
taking of which was found by a court of competent juris-
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diction to have constituted a violation of subsection (a) 
and replaces any other property destroyed and repairs any 
other property damaged as a result of such violation. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY THE 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
The Federal Government or any authority of the Fed-
eral Government shall not exercise its power of eminent 
domain to be used for economic development. 
SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 
(a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any (1) owner of private 
property whose property is subject to eminent domain who 
suffers injury as a result of a violation of any provision 
of this Act with respect to that property, or (2) any tenant 
of property that is subject to eminent domain who suffers 
injury as a result of a violation of any provision of this 
Act with respect to that property, may bring an action 
to enforce any provision of this Act in the appropriate 
Federal or State court. A State shall not be immune under 
the eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States from any such action in a Federal or State court 
of competent jurisdiction. In such action, the defendant 
has the burden to show by clear and convincing evidence 
that the taking is not for economic development. Any such 
property owner or tenant may also seek an appropriate 
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relief through a preliminary injunction or a temporary re-
straining order. 
(b) LIMITATION ON BRINGING ACTION.—An action 
brought by a property owner or tenant under this Act may 
be brought if the property is used for economic develop-
ment following the conclusion of any condemnation pro-
ceedings condemning the property of such property owner 
or tenant, but shall not be brought later than seven years 
following the conclusion of any such proceedings. 
(c) ATTORNEYS’ FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any 
action or proceeding under this Act, the court shall allow 
a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorneys’ fee as part 
of the costs, and include expert fees as part of the attor-
neys’ fee. 
SEC. 5. REPORTING OF VIOLATIONS TO ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL. 
(a) SUBMISSION OF REPORT TO ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL.—Any (1) owner of private property whose property 
is subject to eminent domain who suffers injury as a result 
of a violation of any provision of this Act with respect to 
that property, or (2) any tenant of property that is subject 
to eminent domain who suffers injury as a result of a vio-
lation of any provision of this Act with respect to that 
property, may report a violation by the Federal Govern-
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ment, any authority of the Federal Government, State, or 
political subdivision of a State to the Attorney General. 
(b) INVESTIGATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Upon 
receiving a report of an alleged violation, the Attorney 
General shall conduct an investigation to determine wheth-
er a violation exists. 
(c) NOTIFICATION OF VIOLATION.—If the Attorney 
General concludes that a violation does exist, then the At-
torney General shall notify the Federal Government, au-
thority of the Federal Government, State, or political sub-
division of a State that the Attorney General has deter-
mined that it is in violation of the Act. The notification 
shall further provide that the Federal Government, State, 
or political subdivision of a State has 90 days from the 
date of the notification to demonstrate to the Attorney 
General either that (1) it is not in violation of the Act 
or (2) that it has cured its violation by returning all real 
property the taking of which the Attorney General finds 
to have constituted a violation of the Act and replacing 
any other property destroyed and repairing any other 
property damaged as a result of such violation. 
(d) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S BRINGING OF ACTION TO 
ENFORCE ACT.—If, at the end of the 90-day period de-
scribed in subsection (c), the Attorney General determines 
that the Federal Government, authority of the Federal 
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Government, State, or political subdivision of a State is 
still violating the Act or has not cured its violation as de-
scribed in subsection (c), then the Attorney General will 
bring an action to enforce the Act unless the property 
owner or tenant who reported the violation has already 
brought an action to enforce the Act. In such a case, the 
Attorney General shall intervene if it determines that 
intervention is necessary in order to enforce the Act. The 
Attorney General may file its lawsuit to enforce the Act 
in the appropriate Federal or State court. A State shall 
not be immune under the eleventh amendment to the Con-
stitution of the United States from any such action in a 
Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction. In such 
action, the defendant has the burden to show by clear and 
convincing evidence that the taking is not for economic 
development. The Attorney General may seek any appro-
priate relief through a preliminary injunction or a tem-
porary restraining order. 
(e) LIMITATION ON BRINGING ACTION.—An action 
brought by the Attorney General under this Act may be 
brought if the property is used for economic development 
following the conclusion of any condemnation proceedings 
condemning the property of an owner or tenant who re-
ports a violation of the Act to the Attorney General, but 
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shall not be brought later than seven years following the 
conclusion of any such proceedings. 
(f) ATTORNEYS’ FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any 
action or proceeding under this Act brought by the Attor-
ney General, the court shall, if the Attorney General is 
a prevailing plaintiff, award the Attorney General a rea-
sonable attorneys’ fee as part of the costs, and include 
expert fees as part of the attorneys’ fee. 
SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 
(a) NOTIFICATION TO STATES AND POLITICAL SUB-
DIVISIONS.— 
(1) Not later than 30 days after the enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General shall provide to the 
chief executive officer of each State the text of this 
Act and a description of the rights of property own-
ers and tenants under this Act. 
(2) Not later than 120 days after the enact-
ment of this Act, the Attorney General shall compile 
a list of the Federal laws under which Federal eco-
nomic development funds are distributed. The Attor-
ney General shall compile annual revisions of such 
list as necessary. Such list and any successive revi-
sions of such list shall be communicated by the At-
torney General to the chief executive officer of each 
State and also made available on the Internet 
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website maintained by the United States Depart-
ment of Justice for use by the public and by the au-
thorities in each State and political subdivisions of 
each State empowered to take private property and 
convert it to public use subject to just compensation 
for the taking. 
(b) NOTIFICATION TO PROPERTY OWNERS AND TEN-
ANTS.—Not later than 30 days after the enactment of this 
Act, the Attorney General shall publish in the Federal 
Register and make available on the Internet website main-
tained by the United States Department of Justice a no-
tice containing the text of this Act and a description of 
the rights of property owners and tenants under this Act. 
SEC. 7. REPORTS. 
(a) BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and every subse-
quent year thereafter, the Attorney General shall transmit 
a report identifying States or political subdivisions that 
have used eminent domain in violation of this Act to the 
Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the House of Representatives and to the 
Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the Senate. The report shall— 
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(1) identify all private rights of action brought 
as a result of a State’s or political subdivision’s vio-
lation of this Act; 
(2) identify all violations reported by property 
owners and tenants under section 5(c) of this Act; 
(3) identify all lawsuits brought by the Attorney 
General under section 5(d) of this Act; 
(4) identify all States or political subdivisions 
that have lost Federal economic development funds 
as a result of a violation of this Act, as well as de-
scribe the type and amount of Federal economic de-
velopment funds lost in each State or political sub-
division and the Agency that is responsible for with-
holding such funds; and 
(5) discuss all instances in which a State or po-
litical subdivision has cured a violation as described 
in section 2(c) of this Act. 
(b) DUTY OF STATES.—Each State and local author-
ity that is subject to a private right of action under this 
Act shall have the duty to report to the Attorney General 
such information with respect to such State and local au-
thorities as the Attorney General needs to make the report 
required under subsection (a). 
SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING RURAL AMERICA. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The founders realized the fundamental im-
portance of property rights when they codified the 
Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Con-
stitution, which requires that private property shall 
not be taken ‘‘for public use, without just compensa-
tion’’. 
(2) Rural lands are unique in that they are not 
traditionally considered high tax revenue-generating 
properties for State and local governments. In addi-
tion, farmland and forest land owners need to have 
long-term certainty regarding their property rights 
in order to make the investment decisions to commit 
land to these uses. 
(3) Ownership rights in rural land are funda-
mental building blocks for our Nation’s agriculture 
industry, which continues to be one of the most im-
portant economic sectors of our economy. 
(4) In the wake of the Supreme Court’s deci-
sion in Kelo v. City of New London, abuse of emi-
nent domain is a threat to the property rights of all 
private property owners, including rural land own-
ers. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the use of eminent domain for the purpose of 
economic development is a threat to agricultural and other 
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property in rural America and that the Congress should 
protect the property rights of Americans, including those 
who reside in rural areas. Property rights are central to 
liberty in this country and to our economy. The use of 
eminent domain to take farmland and other rural property 
for economic development threatens liberty, rural econo-
mies, and the economy of the United States. The taking 
of farmland and rural property will have a direct impact 
on existing irrigation and reclamation projects. Further-
more, the use of eminent domain to take rural private 
property for private commercial uses will force increasing 
numbers of activities from private property onto this Na-
tion’s public lands, including its National forests, National 
parks and wildlife refuges. This increase can overburden 
the infrastructure of these lands, reducing the enjoyment 
of such lands for all citizens. Americans should not have 
to fear the government’s taking their homes, farms, or 
businesses to give to other persons. Governments should 
not abuse the power of eminent domain to force rural 
property owners from their land in order to develop rural 
land into industrial and commercial property. Congress 
has a duty to protect the property rights of rural Ameri-
cans in the face of eminent domain abuse. 
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act the following definitions apply: 
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(1) 
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT.—The 
term 
‘‘economic development’’ means taking private prop-
erty, without the consent of the owner, and con-
veying or leasing such property from one private 
person or entity to another private person or entity 
for commercial enterprise carried on for profit, or to 
increase tax revenue, tax base, employment, or gen-
eral economic health, except that such term shall not 
include— 
(A) conveying private property— 
(i) to public ownership, such as for a 
road, hospital, airport, or military base; 
(ii) to an entity, such as a common 
carrier, that makes the property available 
to the general public as of right, such as 
a railroad or public facility; 
(iii) for use as a road or other right 
of way or means, open to the public for 
transportation, whether free or by toll; and 
(iv) for use as an aqueduct, flood con-
trol facility, pipeline, or similar use; 
(B) removing harmful uses of land pro-
vided such uses constitute an immediate threat 
to public health and safety; 
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(C) leasing property to a private person or 
entity that occupies an incidental part of public 
property or a public facility, such as a retail es-
tablishment on the ground floor of a public 
building; 
(D) acquiring abandoned property; 
(E) clearing defective chains of title; 
(F) taking private property for use by a 
public utility; and 
(G) redeveloping of a brownfield site as de-
fined in the Small Business Liability Relief and 
Brownfields Revitalization Act (42 U.S.C. 
9601(39)). 
(2) 
FEDERAL
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT 
FUNDS.—The term ‘‘Federal economic development 
funds’’ means any Federal funds distributed to or 
through States or political subdivisions of States 
under Federal laws designed to improve or increase 
the size of the economies of States or political sub-
divisions of States. 
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other terri-
tory or possession of the United States. 
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SEC. 10. SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) SEVERABILITY.—The provisions of this Act are 
severable. If any provision of this Act, or any application 
thereof, is found unconstitutional, that finding shall not 
affect any provision or application of the Act not so adju-
dicated. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 
upon the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, but shall not apply 
to any project for which condemnation proceedings have 
been initiated prior to the date of enactment. 
SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the policy of the United States to encourage, 
support, and promote the private ownership of property 
and to ensure that the constitutional and other legal rights 
of private property owners are protected by the Federal 
Government. 
SEC. 12. BROAD CONSTRUCTION. 
This Act shall be construed in favor of a broad pro-
tection of private property rights, to the maximum extent 
permitted by the terms of this Act and the Constitution. 
SEC. 13. LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act may be construed to supersede, 
limit, or otherwise affect any provision of the Uniform Re-
location Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies 
Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). 
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SEC. 14. RELIGIOUS AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON STATES.—No State or political 
subdivision of a State shall exercise its power of eminent 
domain, or allow the exercise of such power by any person 
or entity to which such power has been delegated, over 
property of a religious or other nonprofit organization by 
reason of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such orga-
nization, or any quality related thereto if that State or 
political subdivision receives Federal economic develop-
ment funds during any fiscal year in which it does so. 
(b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A viola-
tion of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision 
shall render such State or political subdivision ineligible 
for any Federal economic development funds for a period 
of 2 fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits 
by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection 
has been violated, and any Federal agency charged with 
distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2- 
year period, and any such funds distributed to such State 
or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by 
such State or political subdivision to the appropriate Fed-
eral agency or authority of the Federal Government, or 
component thereof. 
(c) PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The 
Federal Government or any authority of the Federal Gov-
ernment shall not exercise its power of eminent domain 
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over property of a religious or other nonprofit organization 
by reason of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such 
organization, or any quality related thereto. 
SEC. 15. REPORT BY FEDERAL AGENCIES ON REGULATIONS 
AND PROCEDURES RELATING TO EMINENT 
DOMAIN. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the head of each Executive department 
and agency shall review all rules, regulations, and proce-
dures and report to the Attorney General on the activities 
of that department or agency to bring its rules, regula-
tions and procedures into compliance with this Act. 
SEC. 16. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that any and all pre-
cautions shall be taken by the government to avoid the 
unfair or unreasonable taking of property away from sur-
vivors of Hurricane Katrina who own, were bequeathed, 
or assigned such property, for economic development pur-
poses or for the private use of others. 
Æ 
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