(6) 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 authority 
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 authorities 
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: 
(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. 
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(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 decision 
in Kelo v. City of New London, abuse of eminent do-
main is a threat to the property rights of all private 
property owners, including rural land owners. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 
that the use of eminent domain for the purpose of economic 
development is a threat to agricultural and other 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 de-
velopment threatens liberty, rural economies, and the econ-
omy of the United States. The taking of farmland and rural 
property will have a direct impact on existing irrigation 
and reclamation projects. Furthermore, the use of eminent 
domain to take rural private property for private commer-
cial uses will force increasing numbers of activities from 
private property onto this Nation’s public lands, including 
its National forests, National parks and wildlife refuges. 
This increase can overburden the infrastructure of these 
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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 prop-
erty. Congress has a duty to protect the property rights of 
rural Americans in the face of eminent domain abuse. 
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act the following definitions apply: 
(1) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—The term ‘‘eco-
nomic development’’ means taking private property, 
without the consent of the owner, and conveying or 
leasing such property from one private person or enti-
ty to another private person or entity for commercial 
enterprise carried on for profit, or to increase tax rev-
enue, tax base, employment, or general 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; 
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(iii) for use as a road or other right of 
way or means, open to the public for trans-
portation, 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 provided 
such uses constitute an immediate threat to pub-
lic health and safety; 
(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 
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under Federal laws designed to improve or increase 
the size of the economies of States or political subdivi-
sions of States. 
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 
several States, the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or pos-
session of the United States. 
SEC. 10. SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) SEVERABILITY.—The provisions of this Act are sev-
erable. If any provision of this Act, or any application 
thereof, is found unconstitutional, that finding shall not af-
fect 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, sup-
port, 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 Gov-
ernment. 
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