[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 485 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 485

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


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2015

Mr. Boozman (for himself and Mr. Cotton) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

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                                 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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