I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3913 
To amend the Natural Gas Act with respect to application of the right 
to exercise eminent domain in construction of pipelines for the expor-
tation of natural gas, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 7, 2012 
Mr. DEFAZIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Natural Gas Act with respect to application 
of the right to exercise eminent domain in construction 
of pipelines for the exportation of natural gas, and for 
other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Reaffirming Constitu-
tional Property Rights Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States states ‘‘. . . nor shall private 
property be taken for public use, without just com-
pensation’’. This is a fundamental right of our citi-
zenry that should not be trampled upon. 
(2) Federal Courts have found the authority of 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to grant 
a private company the right of eminent domain to 
construct pipelines constitutional because supplying 
energy to the Nation meets the ‘‘public use’’ test, al-
though property owners must be fairly compensated. 
(3) The Department of Energy currently has 
nine applications to export liquefied natural gas 
(LNG) either under review or already approved. 
However, a Department of Energy analysis shows 
that the exportation of LNG could raise the price of 
natural gas by almost 11 percent for households, 
leading to higher heating bills. The same analysis 
found a potential 27 percent increase in natural gas 
prices for industrial users, making energy intensive 
industries less competitive. The higher natural gas 
prices will also shift more electricity generation to 
coal burning power plants and potentially raise the 
price of electricity by up to 9 percent. This govern-
ment study strongly suggests that supplying natural 
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gas to LNG export terminals by definition does not 
meet the ‘‘public use’’ test. 
(4) In 2010, the Journal of Legal Studies pub-
lished the results of a hedonic regression model 
using 80,000 sales to estimate the fair market value 
(FMV) of condemned properties whose owners 
reached compensation settlements with the con-
demner, New York City, between 1990 and 2002. 
More than 50 percent of these condemnees were 
compensated with less than fair market value. The 
average difference between settlements and fair mar-
ket value was 23 percent. This study suggests that 
current eminent domain compensation rules may not 
ensure ‘‘just compensation’’. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATURAL GAS ACT. 
(a) LIMITATION ON USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR 
EXPORTS.—Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 
717f) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(i) Notwithstanding subsection (h), a holder of a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity may not ex-
ercise the right of eminent domain with respect to a pipe-
line to be constructed for the purpose of transporting nat-
ural gas to an LNG terminal for export to a foreign coun-
try from the United States.’’. 
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(b) LIMITATION ON CONVERTING IMPORT TERMINAL 
TO EXPORT TERMINAL.—Section 3 of the Natural Gas 
Act (15 U.S.C. 717b) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) The Commission may not issue an order under 
this section authorizing exportation of any natural gas 
from the United States to a foreign country from an LNG 
terminal if such LNG terminal uses for such exportation 
any pipeline constructed for the purpose of transporting 
natural gas to such LNG terminal and for which a holder 
of a certificate of public convenience and necessity has ex-
ercised the right of eminent domain pursuant to section 
7(h) of this Act after January 1, 2012.’’. 
Æ 
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