Whether district courts have power, before the trial on just compensation, to issue a preliminary injunction granting immediate possession of property to a pipeline company in a condemnation proceeding under the Natural Gas Act

QUESTION PRESENTED Through the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”), 15 U.S.C. §717 et seg., Congress delegates the federal power of eminent domain to private pipeline companies to build interstate pipelines. Because the Act contains no quick-take provision, courts agree that the Act itself gives a pipeline company only the “straight” power of condemnation. This means the condemnor may take ownership and possession of the land after the trial on just compensation by paying the amount of the final judgment. The Fourth Circuit and other courts of appeals nevertheless hold that district courts may issue preliminary injunctions granting immediate possession based on the prediction that the pipeline company will ultimately take the land under the NGA. In contrast, the Seventh Circuit holds that preliminary injunctions must be based on the parties’ substantive rights at the time the injunction issues. And because neither state law nor federal statute gives a pipeline company any substantive right to pretrial possession, an injunction granting immediate possession exceeds federal judicial power. The question presented is: whether district courts have power, before the trial on just compensation, to issue a preliminary injunction granting immediate possession of property to a pipeline company in a condemnation proceeding under the Natural Gas Act.