September 21, 2024
Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06) introduced the Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act and the Protecting Our Farmers from the Green New Deal Act today. Both bills strengthen landowner rights to stop federal land seizures.
“There are few things more sacred than our right to own property, to farm, and to provide for our families,” said Graves. “That’s why our Founding Fathers sought to protect landowners from government land grabs with the Fifth Amendment. Sadly, too many Washington bureaucrats these days just don’t get it—and that’s exactly why we need stronger laws to keep these unaccountable bureaucrats in line, protect landowner rights, and stop unjust federal land grabs.”
H.R. 9603, the Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act, reigns in the Surface Transportation Board’s Rails to Trails program, which allows the federal government to take former railroad corridors and give those corridors to third parties for use as recreational trails. This broken process violates the constitutional rights of landowners and unfairly cuts them out of the process. Graves’ legislation would require trail sponsors to get sign off from all impacted landowners and fully compensate landowners when a project moves forward.
| You can read the Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act here. |
H.R. 9604, the Protecting Our Farmers from the Green New Deal Act, repeals provisions from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) signed into law by President Biden that allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to override state permitting decisions and approve eminent domain for electric transmission lines.
| You can read the Protecting Our Farmers from the Green New Deal Act here. |
As Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Congressman Graves also included language in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 that prohibits the United States Army Corps of Engineers from acquiring any lands or interest in lands using eminent domain under the Missouri River BSNP Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project.
| You can read the Section 331(a)(3) on pg. 269 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 here. |
What They Are Saying
Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins:
“For too long, property owners have been run over by provisions of the federal Rails to Trails program, which allows the conversion of abandoned rail lines to public trails without their consent. Protecting private property rights is a priority for Missouri Farm Bureau. We are grateful to Chairman Graves for leading the charge to ensure landowners rights are protected when new trails are proposed. We look forward to working with Chairman Graves and his colleagues in Congress to move this priority initiative across the finish line.”
