I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3013 
To protect private property rights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2015 
Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, and 
Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 2015’’. 
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 
allow the exercise of such power by any person or entity 
to which such power has been delegated, over property to 
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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-
diction to have constituted a violation of subsection (a) 
and replaces any other property destroyed and repairs any 
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other property damaged as a result of such violation. In 
addition, the State or political subdivision must pay any 
applicable penalties and interest to reattain eligibility. 
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 11th 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 prop-
erty 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 report a violation by the Federal Gov-
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ernment, 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 11th 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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