Protecting the Property Rights of the American People
Signed June 23, 2006·George W. Bush·71 FR 36973
Source
Everything on this page is drawn from the Federal Register, the official daily journal of the United States government. Where this page and the source disagree, the source governs.
Plain-language summary
Sets federal policy limiting the government's use of eminent domain to takings of private property for public use, with just compensation, and prohibits takings whose purpose is mainly to benefit the economic interests of private parties who would receive the property. Directs the Attorney General to issue instructions to federal department and agency heads implementing this policy and to monitor agency takings for compliance; department and agency heads must follow those instructions and supply requested compliance information, to the extent permitted by law. Lists exclusions where takings remain permitted, including for public facilities, common-carrier or public-utility projects, abandoned property, title-clearing, property disposal or exchange, and military, law enforcement, or public health emergencies. States it must be implemented consistent with existing law, available funding, and Executive Order 12630, does not affect existing agency legal authority or Office of Management and Budget budget functions, and creates no enforceable legal rights for any person.
Not written or reviewed by a person. Read the full order below for anything you intend to rely on.
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Legal standing
Not yet published. Court challenges, injunctions and rulings tied to individual orders will appear here once each can be linked to its source record.
Nothing appears in this space without a citation to a court action or a cited precedent. An order with no such record is described as untested, never as likely or unlikely to survive.
Claimed authority
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to strengthen the rights of the American people against the taking of their private property, it is hereby ordered
Quoted from the order as written. Many orders cite nothing more specific than “the Constitution and the laws”; this reproduces what the order claims, not an assessment of whether it holds.
Disposition
See: EO 12630, March 15, 1988
Compiled after the fact by the National Archives, so recent orders often have none yet. An empty disposition means no record, not no activity.
The order, in full
Executive Order 13406 of June 23, 2006
Protecting the Property Rights of the American
People
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and to strengthen the rights of the American
people against the taking of their private property, it
is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United
States to protect the rights of Americans to their
private property, including by limiting the taking of
private property by the Federal Government to
situations in which the taking is for public use, with
just compensation, and for the purpose of benefiting
the general public and not merely for the purpose of
advancing the economic interest of private parties to
be given ownership or use of the property taken.
Sec. 2. Implementation. (a) The Attorney General shall:
(i) issue instructions to the heads of departments
and agencies to implement the policy set forth in
section 1 of this order; and
(ii) monitor takings by departments and agencies
for compliance with the policy set forth in section 1
of this order.
(b) Heads of departments and agencies shall, to the
extent permitted by law:
(i) comply with instructions issued under
subsection (a)(i); and
(ii) provide to the Attorney General such
information as the Attorney General determines
necessary to carry out subsection (a)(ii).
Sec. 3. Specific Exclusions. Nothing in this order
shall be construed to prohibit a taking of private
property by the Federal Government, that otherwise
complies with applicable law, for the purpose of:
(a) public ownership or exclusive use of the
property by the public, such as for a public medical
facility, roadway, park, forest, governmental office
building, or military reservation;
(b) projects designated for public, common carrier,
public transportation, or public utility use, including
those for which a fee is assessed, that serve the
general public and are subject to regulation by a
governmental entity;
(c) conveying the property to a nongovernmental
entity, such as a telecommunications or transportation
common carrier, that makes the property available for
use by the general public as of right;
(d) preventing or mitigating a harmful use of land
that constitutes a threat to public health, safety, or
the environment;
(e) acquiring abandoned property;
(f) quieting title to real property;
(g) acquiring ownership or use by a public utility;
(h) facilitating the disposal or exchange of
Federal property; or
(i) meeting military, law enforcement, public
safety, public transportation, or public health
emergencies.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be
implemented consistent with applicable law and subject
to the availability of appropriations.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair
or otherwise affect:
(i) authority granted by law to a department or
agency or the head thereof; or
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget relating to budget,
administrative, or legislative proposals.
(c) This order shall be implemented in a manner
consistent with Executive Order 12630 of March 15,
1988.
(d) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity against the United
States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers,
employees, or agents, or any other person.
(Presidential Sig.)B
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 23, 2006.Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed June 23, 2006. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.