Rural America Protection Act of 2001

This bill proposes to limit how government agencies can use private land to offset environmental damage caused by construction projects. Under current law, if a government project destroys a wetland, the agency must often "mitigate" that damage by protecting or creating a wetland elsewhere.

H.R. 2719 would prohibit the government from seizing private property through eminent domain for these mitigation projects if the land is located in a different watershed area than the original project. If the government does acquire such land, the bill requires them to pay the owner the full fair market value or the average value of similar land in the project’s local area, whichever is higher. The practical impact would be to provide stronger property rights and higher compensation for rural landowners whose property is targeted for environmental preservation.