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. 
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 
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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.). 
SEC. 14. RELIGIOUS AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON STATES.—No State or political 
subdivision of a State shall exercise its power of eminent 
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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 
over property of a religious or other nonprofit organization 
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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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