APPROVAL Act
Latest action · May 14, 2015 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-65.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 12, 2015
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Assuring Private Property Rights Over Vast Access to Land Act or the APPROVAL Act
This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to prohibit the Secretary of Energy and the Administrators of the Western Area Power Administration and of the Southwestern Power Administration from using the power of eminent domain to implement modernization of electricity transmission infrastructure, unless they have received explicit permission to do so by: (1) the state 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 whose land would be affected.
An electricity transmission infrastructure project, to the greatest extent practicable, must be sited upon either an existing federal right-of-way or upon federal land managed by either: (1) the Bureau of Land Management, (2) the Forest Service, (3) the Bureau of Reclamation, or (4) the Corps of Engineers.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Feb 12, 2015.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-AR | Tom Cotton | Original | Feb 12, 2015 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Energy and Natural Resources Committee | Referred Feb 12, 2015Hearings May 14, 2015 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 14, 2015Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-65.
- Feb 12, 2015Introduced in Senate
- Feb 12, 2015Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 529 | APPROVAL Act | Reintroduced Bill | Mar 6, 2017 |
| HR 3062 | APPROVAL Act | Identical bill | Dec 8, 2016 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to prohibit the use of eminent domain in carrying out certain projects.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Assuring Private Property Rights Over Vast Access to Land Act
- APPROVAL Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Energy.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 12, 2015Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
