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S 485 114th Congress Senate Energy Electric power generation and transmission Federal-Indian relations Intergovernmental relations Land transfers Land use and conservation State and local government operations

APPROVAL Act

Introduced: February 12, 2015 Introduced by: Boozman, John Republican · Arkansas See on congress.gov
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This bill died when the 114th Congress ended
It never became law before the 114th Congress (2015–2016) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
May 14, 2015
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-65.
Feb 12, 2015
Introduced in Senate
Feb 12, 2015
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

What's happening now May 14, 2015

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-65.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 3062 Identical bill APPROVAL Act
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Republican 1
R
Cotton, Tom
Arkansas · Feb 12, 2015
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 485: APPROVAL Act. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-485/
MLA
"S. 485: APPROVAL Act." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-485/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 485, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-485/.
Markdown link
[S. 485: APPROVAL Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-485/)
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