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II
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
S. 4680
To amend the Natural Gas Act to provide that the United States district
courts shall not have jurisdiction to condemn property in which a State
holds any interest, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To amend the Natural Gas Act to provide that the United
States district courts shall not have jurisdiction to con-
demn property in which a State holds any interest, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Natural Gas
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Companies’ Seizure of Land for Export Profits Act’’.
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•S 4680 IS
SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OF UNITED STATES DISTRICT
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COURTS OVER CERTAIN EMINENT DOMAIN
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PROCEEDINGS.
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Section 7(h) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C.
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717f(h)) is amended—
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(1) in the second sentence—
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(A) by striking ‘‘situated: Provided, That
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the’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘situated.
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‘‘(3) JURISDICTION
OF
UNITED
STATES
DIS-
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TRICT COURTS.—
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The’’; and
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(B) by striking ‘‘The practice’’ and insert-
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ing the following:
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‘‘(2) PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE.—The prac-
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tice’’;
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(2) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘(h) When
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any holder’’ and inserting the following:
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‘‘(h) EMINENT DOMAIN.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—When any holder’’; and
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(3) by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(B)
STATE
PROPERTY.—The
United
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States district courts shall not have jurisdiction
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to condemn property in which a State owns any
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interest.’’.
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•S 4680 IS
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN
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FOR EXPORTS.
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Section 7(h) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C.
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717f(h)) (as amended by section 2) is amended by adding
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at the end the following:
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‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN
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FOR EXPORTS.—A holder of a certificate of public
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convenience and necessity may not exercise the right
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of eminent domain under this subsection if the
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project covered by the certificate is a project to be
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constructed substantially for the purpose of trans-
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porting natural gas to an LNG terminal or to other
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pipelines for export from the United States to a for-
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eign country.’’.
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Æ
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