Title: APPROVAL Act
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Assuring Private Property Rights Over Vast Access to Land Act or the APPROVAL Act
This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to prohibit the Department of Energy and the Southwestern and Western Area Power Administrations from using the power of eminent domain to implement modernization of electricity transmission infrastructure, unless they have received explicit permission to do so by: (1) the state governor and the head of each applicable public utility commission or public service commission of the affected state, and (2) the head of the governing body of each Indian tribe whose land would be affected.
An electricity transmission infrastructure project, to the greatest extent practicable, must be sited upon either an existing federal right-of-way or upon federal land managed by either: (1) the Bureau of Land Management, (2) the Forest Service, (3) the Bureau of Reclamation, or (4) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1373 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1373

To prohibit the use of eminent domain in carrying out certain projects.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 6, 2017

  Mr. Womack (for himself, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Westerman, and Mr. Hill) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the use of eminent domain in carrying out certain projects.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Assuring Private Property Rights 
Over Vast Access to Land Act'' or the ``APPROVAL Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS.

    Section 1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16421) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g) as 
        subsections (f) through (i), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Prohibition on Eminent Domain.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law (including regulations), the Secretary, SWPA, and WAPA 
may not carry out any Project under this section through the use of 
eminent domain, unless the use of eminent domain is explicitly 
authorized by--
            ``(1) the Governor and the head of each applicable public 
        utility commission or public service commission of the affected 
        State; and
            ``(2) the head of the governing body of each Indian tribe 
        the land of which would be affected.
    ``(e) Siting Requirement.--To the maximum extent practicable, a 
Project carried out under this section shall be sited on--
            ``(1) an existing Federal right-of-way; or
            ``(2) Federal land managed by--
                    ``(A) the Bureau of Land Management;
                    ``(B) the Forest Service;
                    ``(C) the Bureau of Reclamation; or
                    ``(D) the Corps of Engineers.''.
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