Press Releases

This week, Reps. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) and Tracey Mann (R-Kansas) introduced H.R.9527 to prevent a federal land grab from the Mid Western Plains NIETC. This bill would explicitly prohibit the use of federal funds for the exercise of federal eminent domain powers for power transmission and would also prohibit the permitting of power transmission projects if the state objects.
 
“Many Kansans are rightfully outraged that their land could be usurped by the federal government,” said Rep. Estes. “Respect for private property rights is foundational to our way of life and this bill will help ensure that even the federal government has to respect the rights of Kansas landowners.” 
 
Rep. Estes is firmly committed to protecting the property rights of Kansas landowners. Last month, he sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm detailing how the NIETC project could subject Kansans to federal land grabs and distorts the intent of the private Grain Belt Express transmission line project, before going on to call on the DOE to reopen the comment period to fully address the concerns of Kansans living in the path of this proposal. 
 
You can read the full letter here.