Land Acquisition Section
About the Section
ENRD’s Land Acquisition Section (LAS) plays a unique, specialized, and essential role in supporting federal programs by enabling the government to acquire private property for public purposes while ensuring that it satisfies the Constitutional mandate that landowners be fairly compensated. LAS brings all affirmative condemnation actions on behalf of the United States, conducts title work, promulgates the Attorney General’s Title Standards for all land acquired by every federal agency, and provides appraisal valuation services. LAS regularly engages on these areas of expertise with dozens of federal client agencies at the highest levels through complex litigation, real estate, title, and valuation matters totaling many billions of dollars in value. The Section provides client-agencies with both training and early consultation during the planning process for major federal acquisition projects to ensure the success of those projects. These efforts have borne fruit in improving the government’s position in a number of high-profile matters, that include border security and infrastructure work, military training facilities, construction of transmission line projects, expansion of national parks, forests and environmental buffer lands, developing veterans facilities like hospitals and cemeteries, rebuilding the strategic petroleum reserve, and protecting the General Services Administration leasehold portfolio.
- Acquire land through condemnation proceedings for use by the federal government.
- Promulgate and update the Attorney General's Title Standards for land acquired by all federal agencies.
- Conduct title work on behalf of agencies acquiring land.
- Provide appraisal valuation services in support of all government programs.
- Periodically update the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition.
- Provide training and early consultation on condemnation, title and valuation in the planning process for major federal acquisitions.
Focus Areas
The Appraisal Unit, led by the Appraisal Chief working with a cadre of experienced inhouse Review Appraisers, assesses the adequacy of appraisals used for federal land acquisitions. In the context of our work in LAS, the in-house appraisers review agencies’ pre-condemnation appraisals, assist the trial attorneys in identifying potential appraisal issues, review experts’ draft reports, and prepare interest calculations on compensation deficiencies.
LAS prosecutes condemnation proceedings on behalf of the United States. It also monitors and consults with responsible Assistant U.S. Attorneys on pre-trial, trial, and post-trial activities in eminent domain cases where responsibility has been delegated to a U.S. Attorney's Office by the Land Acquisition Section. Condemnation is used to acquire many different types of property interests.
LAS provides training and early consultation for client agencies during the planning process for major federal acquisition projects, which have included border security infrastructure, military training facilities, transmission line projects, expansion of national parks, forests and environmental buffer lands, veterans' facilities from hospitals to cemeteries, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the General Services Administration leasehold portfolio.
Appraisals and appraisal reviews prepared in support of the Division’s litigation related to land acquisitions follow the standards described in the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions, commonly referred to as the Yellow Book. These standards were developed and adopted by the Interagency Land Acquisition Conference (consisting of the land-acquiring agencies of the federal government). In addition to the standards established in the Yellow Book, appraisers follow the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, developed and adopted by the Appraisal Foundation as the professional standards applicable to valuation assignments related to financial transactions in the United States.