Protecting Our Conserved Lands Act

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4910 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4910

To prohibit the use of eminent domain for the construction or expansion 
   of a natural gas pipe line through land conserved by certain land 
         trusts and local governments, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 29, 2019

  Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire (for herself, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. 
  Malinowski, Mr. Quigley, and Mr. Huffman) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

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                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit the use of eminent domain for the construction or expansion 
   of a natural gas pipe line through land conserved by certain land 
         trusts and local governments, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Protecting Our Conserved Lands Act 
of 2019''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN.

    Section 7(h) of the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717f(h)) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``When'' and inserting ``(1) When''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2) Beginning on January 1, 2022, notwithstanding paragraph (1), 
a holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity may not 
exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire land or other property 
necessary to construct, operate, or maintain a pipe line for the 
transportation of natural gas, or any station or equipment necessary to 
the proper operation of such pipe line, any part of which will be 
located on land that is--
            ``(A) subject to a conservation easement or other 
        conservation-related restriction by an organization described 
        in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 
        exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code;
            ``(B) owned by or deeded to an organization described in 
        subparagraph (A) for the purpose of conservation;
            ``(C) subject to a conservation easement or other 
        conservation-related restriction by a municipality, county, or 
        other division of local government; or
            ``(D) owned by or deeded to a municipality, county, or 
        other division or subdivision of local government for the 
        purpose of conservation.''.
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