--- kind: "section" citation: "16 U.S.C. § 807" title: "16" title_heading: "Conservation" number: "807" heading: "Right of Government to take over project works" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/807" units: - "Chapter 12 — Federal Regulation and Development of Power" - "Subchapter I — Regulation of the Development of Water Power and Resources" --- # §807. Right of Government to take over project works - (a) **Compensation; condemnation by Federal or State Government—** Upon not less than two years’ notice in writing from the [commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c) the United States shall have the right upon or after the expiration of any license to [take](/usc/16/3102.md?p=18) over and thereafter to maintain and operate any [project](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) or [projects](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) as defined in [section 796 of this title](/usc/16/796.md), and covered in whole or in part by the license, or the right to [take](/usc/16/3102.md?p=18) over upon mutual agreement with the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5) all property owned and held by the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5) then valuable and serviceable in the development, transmission, or distribution of power and which is then dependent for its usefulness upon the continuance of the license, together with any lock or locks or other aids to navigation constructed at the expense of the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5), upon the condition that before [taking](/usc/16/3102.md?p=18) possession it shall pay the net investment of the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5) in the [project](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) or [projects](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) taken, not to exceed the fair value of the property taken, plus such reasonable damages, if any, to property of the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5) valuable, serviceable, and dependent as above set forth but not taken, as may be caused by the severance therefrom of property taken, and shall assume all contracts entered into by the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5) with the approval of the [Commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c). The net investment of the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5) in the [project](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) or [projects](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) so taken and the amount of such severance damages, if any, shall be determined by the [Commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c) after notice and opportunity for hearing. Such net investment shall not include or be affected by the value of any lands, rights-of-way, or other property of the United States licensed by the [Commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c) under this chapter, by the license or by good will, going value, or prospective revenues; nor shall the values allowed for water rights, rights-of-way, lands, or interest in lands be in excess of the actual reasonable cost thereof at the time of [acquisition](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) by the [licensee](/usc/16/796.md?p=5): Provided, That the right of the United States or any [State](/usc/16/796.md?p=6) or [municipality](/usc/16/796.md?p=7) to [take](/usc/16/3102.md?p=18) over, maintain, and operate any [project](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) licensed under this chapter at any time by condemnation proceedings upon payment of just compensation is expressly reserved. - (b) **Relicensing proceedings; Federal agency recommendations of take over by Government; stay of orders for new licenses; termination of stay; notice to Congress—** In any relicensing proceeding before the [Commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c) any Federal department or agency may timely recommend, pursuant to such rules as the [Commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c) shall prescribe, that the United States exercise its right to [take](/usc/16/3102.md?p=18) over any [project](/usc/16/796.md?p=11) or [projects](/usc/16/796.md?p=11). Thereafter, the [Commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c), if its[^1] does not itself recommend such action pursuant to the provisions of [section 800(c) of this title](/usc/16/800.md?p=c), shall upon motion of such department or agency stay the effective date of any order issuing a license, except an order issuing an annual license in accordance with the proviso of [section 808(a) of this title](/usc/16/808.md?p=a), for two years after the date of issuance of such order, after which period the stay shall terminate, unless terminated earlier upon motion of the department or agency requesting the stay or by action of Congress. The [Commission](/usc/16/544.md?p=c) shall notify the Congress of any stay granted pursuant to this subsection. ## Footnotes [^1]: So in original. Probably should be “it”. ## Source credit (June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. I, § 14, 41 Stat. 1071; renumbered pt. I and amended, Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, §§ 207, 212, 49 Stat. 844, 847; Pub. L. 90–451, § 2, Aug. 3, 1968, 82 Stat. 617; Pub. L. 99–495, § 4(b)(2), Oct. 16, 1986, 100 Stat. 1248.) ## Notes ### Editorial Notes ### Amendments 1986—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–495 struck out first sentence which read as follows: “No earlier than five years before the expiration of any license, the Commission shall entertain applications for a new license and decide them in a relicensing proceeding pursuant to the provisions of section 808 of this title.” 1968—Pub. L. 90–451 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b). 1935—Act Aug. 26, 1935, § 207, amended section generally. ### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ### Effective Date of 1986 Amendment Amendment by Pub. L. 99–495 effective with respect to each license, permit, or exemption issued under this chapter after Oct. 16, 1986, see section 18 of Pub. L. 99–495, set out as a note under section 797 of this title.