[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2550 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2550

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 1999

  Mr. DeLay 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 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL POLICY AND DIRECTION.

    (a) General Policy.--It is the policy of the Federal Government 
that no law or agency action should limit the use of privately owned 
property so as to diminish its value.
    (b) Application to Federal Agency Action.--Each Federal agency, 
officer, and employee should exercise Federal authority to ensure that 
agency action will not limit the use of privately owned property so as 
to diminish its value.

SEC. 3. RIGHT TO COMPENSATION.

    (a) In General.--The Federal Government shall compensate an owner 
of property whose use of any portion of that property has been limited 
by an agency action, under a specified regulatory law, that diminishes 
the fair market value of that portion by 20 percent or more. The amount 
of the compensation shall equal the diminution in value that resulted 
from the agency action. If the diminution in value of a portion of that 
property is greater than 50 percent, at the option of the owner, the 
Federal Government shall buy that portion of the property for its fair 
market value.
    (b) Duration of Limitation on Use.--Property with respect to which 
compensation has been paid under this Act shall not thereafter be used 
contrary to the limitation imposed by the agency action, even if that 
action is later rescinded or otherwise vitiated. However, if that 
action is later rescinded or otherwise vitiated, and the owner elects 
to refund the amount of the compensation, adjusted for inflation, to 
the Treasury of the United States, the property may be so used.

SEC. 4. EFFECT OF STATE LAW.

    If a use is a nuisance as defined by the law of a State or is 
already prohibited under a local zoning ordinance, no compensation 
shall be made under this Act with respect to a limitation on that use.

SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS.

    (a) Prevention of Hazard to Health or Safety or Damage to Specific 
Property.--No compensation shall be made under this Act with respect to 
an agency action the primary purpose of which is to prevent an 
identifiable--
            (1) hazard to public health or safety; or
            (2) damage to specific property other than the property 
        whose use is limited.
    (b) Navigation Servitude.--No compensation shall be made under this 
Act with respect to an agency action pursuant to the Federal navigation 
servitude, as defined by the courts of the United States, except to the 
extent such servitude is interpreted to apply to wetlands.

SEC. 6. 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 as to 
the right to and amount of compensation, the owner may choose to take 
the matter 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 other arbitration costs (including 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 other litigation costs (including 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. 7. LIMITATION.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any obligation of the 
United States to make any payment under this Act shall be subject to 
the availability of appropriations.

SEC. 8. DUTY OF NOTICE TO OWNERS.

    Whenever an agency takes an agency action limiting the use of 
private property, the agency shall give appropriate notice to the 
owners of that property explaining their rights under this Act and the 
procedures directly affected for obtaining any compensation that may be 
due to them under this Act.

SEC. 9. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) Effect on Constitutional Right to Compensation.--Nothing in 
this Act shall be construed to limit any right to compensation that 
exists under the Constitution or under other laws of the United States.
    (b) Effect of Payment.--Payment of compensation under this Act 
(other than when the property is bought by the Federal Government at 
the option of the owner) shall not confer any rights on the Federal 
Government other than the limitation on use resulting from the agency 
action.

SEC. 9. 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 ``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;
            (4) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given that term in 
        section 551 of title 5, United States Code;
            (5) 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.);
                    (C) title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
                U.S.C. 3801 et seq.); or
                    (D) with respect to an owner's right to use or 
                receive water only--
                            (i) the Act of June 17, 1902, and all Acts 
                        amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, 
                        popularly called the ``Reclamation Acts'' (43 
                        U.S.C. 371 et seq.);
                            (ii) the Federal Land Policy Management Act 
                        (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or
                            (iii) section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 
                        Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 
                        U.S.C. 1604);
            (6) the term ``fair market value'' means the most probable 
        price at which property would change hands, in a competitive 
        and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, 
        between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being 
        under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable 
        knowledge of relevant facts, at the time the agency action 
        occurs;
            (7) the term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia, 
        Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the 
        United States; and
            (8) the term ``law of the State'' includes the law of a 
        political subdivision of a State.
                                 <all>