119-hr2773

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2773 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2773

 To provide that the Secretary of the Interior may not enter into 
 certain conservation easements with a term of more than 30 years, and 
 for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 9, 2025

 Ms. Hageman (for herself and Ms. Fedorchak) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To provide that the Secretary of the Interior may not enter into 
 certain conservation easements with a term of more than 30 years, 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 ``Landowner Easement Rights Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON CONSERVATION EASEMENT TERMS.

 After the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may not 
enter into a conservation easement with a term of more than 30 years.

SEC. 3. RENEGOTIATION OF CONSERVATION EASEMENTS.

 At the request of an owner of land that is subject to an eligible 
conservation easement, the Secretary shall--

    (1) not later the 6 months after the Secretary receives the 
 request from the landowner, provide to the landowner--
        (A) a detailed map of the easement; and
        (B) notice of the current fair market value of the 
 easement as determined by the Secretary; and

    (2) renegotiate the terms of the eligible conservation 
 easement, including--
        (A) a term not longer than 30 years; and
        (B) payment by the Secretary to the landowner in an 
 amount equal to the fair market value of the easement, 
 as determined by the Secretary under paragraph

    (1)
        (B) , 
 minus the amount paid by the Secretary for the eligible 
 conservation easement being renegotiated (adjusted for 
 inflation); or

    (3) allow the landowner to buy back the eligible 
 conservation easement or a portion of the eligible conservation 
 easement at fair market value, as determined by the Secretary.

SEC. 4. NOTICE TO LANDOWNERS.

 The Secretary shall notify the owner of the land subject to that 
conservation easement of the owner's right to submit a request under 

section 3--

    (1) not later than 3 months before the conservation 
 easement becomes an eligible conservation easement described in 
 

section 5

    (2)
        (A) ; and

    (2) not later than 1 year before the conservation easement 
 becomes an eligible conservation easement described in 

section 5

    (2)
        (B) .

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Conservation easement.--The term ``conservation 
 easement''--
        (A) means a voluntary, legal agreement between a 
 landowner and the Secretary that limits use of the land 
 in order to protect its conservation values; and
        (B) does not include agreements--
            (i) with Indian Tribes; or for
            (ii) related to utilities.

    (2) Eligible conservation easement.--The term ``eligible 
 conservation easement'' means a conservation easement that--
        (A) has been in effect for longer than 30 years; or
        (B) was put into effect before 1977 without the 
 creation of an official corresponding map.

    (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of the Interior.
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