H.R. 901 "The American Land Sovereignty Protection Act"

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), Chairman of the House Resources Committee, introduced H.R. 901, the American Land Sovereignty Protection Act which passed out of his committee in February 1997 and passed the full House in October 1997. The focus of the legislation is to preserve the sovereignty of the United States against international intrusion on public lands and acquired lands owned by the US, and to preserve state sovereignty and private property rights in non-federal lands surrounding those public lands and acquired lands. In May 1998, Senator Ben Night-Horse Campbell (R-Colorado) introduced a companion bill S. 2098. To date there has been no action in the Senate.

H.R. 858 "The Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery and Economic Stability Act of 1997"

H.R. 858, the Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery and Economic Stability Act of 1997, was introduced by Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA ). The legislation was referred to both the House Resources Committee and House Agriculture Committee for their consideration. The bill was heard in committee and amended. In July, 1997, the bill was taken up by the full House and passed 429-1. It was received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources where it passed as S. 1028, a substitute for H.R. 858. No action has been taken by the full Senate to date. The bill is promoted as a way to involve local communities in the development of forest management plans, but it eliminates the rights and participation of several key resource groups such as ranching, and gives local environmentalists more power in the process. Property rights are ignored by the bill.

H.R. 1534 "Citizens Access to Justice Act"

The only property rights bill with a shot at passing the 105th Congress is H.R. 1534 by Rep. Elton Gallegly. H.R. 1534 is a property rights judicial reform bill that passed the House 248-178 back in October 1997. Now in the Senate, Majority Leader Trent Lott has said that he expects to bring the bill to the floor before the July 4th recess. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted it out of committee in February of this year. Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch offered a substitute that combined H.R. 1534 with Congressman Lamar Smith’s "Tucker Act Shuffle Relief Act of 1997" (H.R. 992). Both pieces of legislation are judicial reform bills.

H.R. 1534 is designed to provide fair access to the courts by allowing property owners to pursue a Fifth Amendment claim in federal court after an original land use application or applications and appeal or waiver(s) have been denied. It also clarifies when a federal land use case becomes "ripe" for review on the merits. H.R. 992 gives both the Federal District Courts and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concurrent jurisdiction to hear all claims relating to property rights under the Fifth Amendment. Under current law, private property owners who believe they have suffered an uncompensated taking in violation of the Fifth Amendment may seek either monetary relief in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims or injunctive relief in a Federal District Court.

S. 1180 "The Endangered Species Recovery Act of 1997"

After many months of negotiations with the Administration, Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-Idaho) and Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of Interior, touted S. 1180 as the best bill for endangered species and landowners alike. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works where in about three weeks, the committee laid out, marked up and passed S. 1180 along party lines and placed it on the Senate Calendar. To date, no action has been taken by the full Senate. However, recent alerts and talks have said the bill has a chance of coming up before the July recess.

After the bill was reported from Committee in October of 1997, negotiations began between the Majority and Minority members of the committee, Senate leadership staff and the Administration on what have come to be known as the "Majority Amendments." There have been literally months of negotiations at the highest levels trying to come to some mutual resolution on these provisions. At this point, no resolution has been reached by the respective parties. It has been reported that Senator Kempthorne is going to use all available avenues to bring his legislation up for a vote on the Senate floor before Congress leaves. One recent possibility that has circulated on the Hill is that S. 1180 could be offered as an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill when it is considered by the full Senate later this summer. In the meantime, negotiations continue to try to reach an agreement on the legislation between the majority and minority leadership with the Administration.

No similar legislation has been introduced in the House and the congressional calendar continues to shrink. However, if S. 1180 or pieces of it are successfully attached to an appropriations vehicle, it could be approved by the House in a House/Senate Conference report and sent to the President for his signature. This bill and the Interior Appropriations bill should be watched very closely this summer. We cannot afford to let this legislation slide by.