[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 925 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 925

  To compensate owners of private property for the effect of certain 
                        regulatory restrictions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 14, 1995

    Mr. Canady  of Florida introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To compensate owners of private property for the effect of certain 
                        regulatory restrictions.

    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 ``Private Property Protection Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. RIGHT TO COMPENSATION.

    The Federal Government shall compensate an owner of property whose 
use of that property has been limited by an agency action, pursuant to 
a specified regulatory law, that diminishes the fair market value of 
that property by 33\1/3\ percent or more, for that diminution in value.

SEC. 3. EFFECT OF STATE LAW.

    No compensation shall be made under this Act if the use limited by 
Federal agency action is proscribed under the law of the State in which 
the property is located (other than a proscription required by a 
Federal law, either directly or as a condition for assistance). If a 
use is a nuisance as defined by the law of a State, that use is 
proscribed for the purposes of this subsection.

SEC. 4. EXCEPTIONS.

    (a) Prevention of Hazard to Health and Safety or Damage to Specific 
Property.--No compensation shall be made under this Act with respect to 
an agency action the purpose of which is to prevent an imminent and 
identifiable--
            (1) hazard to public health and safety; or
            (2) damage to specific property other than the property 
        whose use is limited.
    (b) Navigational Servitude.--No compensation shall be made under 
this Act with respect to an agency action pursuant to the Federal 
navigational servitude.

SEC. 5. PROCEDURE.

    (a) Request of Owner.--An owner seeking compensation under this Act 
shall make a written request for compensation to the agency whose 
agency action resulted in the limitation. No such request may be made 
later than 180 days after the owner receives actual notice of that 
agency action.
    (b) Negotiations.--The agency may bargain with that owner to 
establish the amount of the compensation. If the agency and the owner 
agree to such an amount, the agency shall promptly pay the owner the 
amount agreed upon.
    (c) Choice of Remedies.--If, not later than 180 days after the 
written request is made, the parties do not come to an agreement, the 
owner may choose to take the issue to binding arbitration or seek 
compensation in a civil action.
    (d) Arbitration.--The procedures that govern the arbitration shall, 
as nearly as practicable, be those established under title 9, United 
States Code, for arbitration proceedings to which that title applies. 
An award made in such arbitration shall include a reasonable attorney's 
fee and appraisal fees. The agency shall promptly pay any award made to 
the owner.
    (e) Civil Action.--An owner who does not choose arbitration, or who 
does not receive prompt payment when required by this section, may 
obtain appropriate relief in a civil action against the agency. An 
owner who prevails. in a civil action under this section shall be 
entitled to, and the agency shall be liable for, a reasonable 
attorney's fee and appraisal fees. The court shall award interest on 
the amount of any compensation from the time of the limitation.
    (f) Source of Payments.--Any payment made under this section to an 
owner, and any judgment obtained by an owner in a civil action under 
this section shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, be made 
from the annual appropriation of the agency whose action occasioned the 
payment or judgment. If the agency action resulted from a requirement 
imposed by another agency, then the agency making the payment or 
satisfying the judgment may seek partial or complete reimbursement from 
the appropriated funds of the other agency. For this purpose the head 
of the agency concerned may transfer or reprogram any appropriated 
funds available to the agency. If insufficient funds exist for the 
payment or to satisfy the judgment, it shall be the duty of the head of 
the agency to seek the appropriation of such funds for the next fiscal 
year.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``property'' means land and includes the right 
        to use or receive water;
            (2) a use of property is limited by an agency action if a 
        particular legal right to use that property no longer exists 
        because of the action;
            (3) the term ``specified regulatory law'' means--
                    (A) section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution 
                Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344);
                    (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
                1531 et seq.); or
                    (C) subtitle C of title XII of the Food Security 
                Act of 1985;
            (4) the term ``agency action'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code, but also 
        includes the making of a grant to a public authority 
        conditioned upon an action by the recipient that would 
        constitute a limitation if done directly by the agency;
            (5) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given that term in 
        section 551 of title 5, United States Code;
            (6) the term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia, 
        Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the 
        United States; and
            (7) the term ``law of the State'' includes the law of a 
        political subdivision of a State.
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