text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Red Cliffs Desert Reserve Completion 
  Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds that--
              (1) in the early 1980s, James Doyle, doing business as 
          Rocky Mountain Ventures and Environmental Land Technologies, 
          Ltd., began assembling land for a massive real estate 
          development in the rapidly growing St. George area of Utah;
              (2) the centerpieces of this development were 9 golf 
          courses surrounded by luxury homes;
              (3) during the 1980s, James Doyle acquired 2,440 acres and 
          held preferential rights to an additional 11,000 acres for this 
          development;
              (4) throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, James Doyle 
          invested large amounts of money to acquire and develop this 
          land, including--
                      (A) procuring the water rights and engineering 
                  studies;
                      (B) developing proposals and designs for 
                  transportation corridors;
                      (C) constructing 1 golf course and designing nine 
                  more;
                      (D) developing utility layouts and placements;
                      (E) installing necessary sewer, water, and power 
                  for the various properties; and
                      (F) securing all necessary zoning adjustments and 
                  development permissions;
              (5) with planning and preparation essentially complete by 
          1989, James Doyle was prepared to break ground for the initial 
          phase of his project;
              (6) on April 2, 1990, the United States Fish and Wildlife 
          Service published a final rule listing the Mojave population of 
          the desert tortoise as ``threatened'' under the Endangered 
          Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.);
              (7) on February 8, 1994, the United States Fish and 
          Wildlife Service published a final rule designating all of 
          James Doyle's land as critical habitat for the Mojave 
          population of the desert tortoise;
              (8) the listing of the desert tortoise and designation of 
          James Doyle's land as critical habitat for the tortoise made 
          James Doyle's planned land development, as well as that of 
          other nearby lands, unlawful without the issuance of an 
          incidental take permit by the United States Fish and Wildlife 
          Service;
              (9) in response to the designation, James Doyle, as a 
          member of the Habitat Conservation Plan Steering Committee, 
          worked with other landowners, as well as Federal, State, and 
          county officials, to create a Habitat Conservation Plan 
          covering Washington County that would have allowed James Doyle 
          to develop a portion of his land;
              (10) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service rejected 
          the plan, stating that the plan set aside insufficient land to 
          protect the tortoise;
              (11) James Doyle and the Steering Committee prepared a 
          revised Habitat Conservation Plan, which the United States Fish 
          and Wildlife Service approved on February 23, 1996;
              (12) the approved Habitat Conservation Plan allowed the 
          development of 350,000 acres of tortoise habitat, and set aside 
          61,022 acres, including all of James Doyle's land, as protected 
          tortoise habitat reserve where no development was allowed;
              (13) to this end, the Habitat Conservation Plan expressly 
          provided that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service would 
          issue no incidental take permits for desert tortoises on 
          reserve lands;
              (14) in return for placing the land in the tortoise 
          reserve, the United States promised that it would acquire title 
          to all of the private land, including James Doyle's, by 
          exchange or purchase at fair market value;
              (15) despite extensive negotiations, the United States 
          acquired only about 400 acres of James Doyle's land for the 
          tortoise reserve, leaving the remainder of his acreage vacant 
          and unproductive;
              (16) as the years passed, James Doyle's inability to 
          develop or sell this remaining acreage resulted in severe 
          financial limitations, leaving him unable to service the 
          mortgages he had incurred on the land to finance acquisition 
          and development costs;
              (17) on March 30, 2004, unable to develop, exchange, or 
          sell the land, in which James Doyle had invested millions of 
          dollars, James Doyle was forced to seek bankruptcy protection;
              (18) in 2010, James Doyle completed, and the bankruptcy 
          court approved, a plan under which James Doyle was required to 
          transfer to his creditors all but 274 acres of his land, which 
          he still owns but cannot develop;
              (19) in 2015, James Doyle filed suit in the United States 
          Court of Federal Claims, seeking just compensation for the land 
          that has served as a tortoise reserve since 1996, and was taken 
          without compensation;
              (20) the United States Court of Federal Claims dismissed 
          James Doyle's claim, without prejudice, ruling that he must 
          first seek and be denied a United States Fish and Wildlife 
          Service permit to develop his land, even though it is within 
          the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve where no development is allowed; 
          and
              (21) the permit process would take several years and would 
          be futile.
  
  SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIM.
  
      (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay James 
  Doyle, out of money not otherwise appropriated, a sum of money, in an 
  amount to be determined by the United States Court of Federal Claims, 
  representing the amount to which James Doyle may be entitled in order 
  to make James Doyle whole for any damages and losses sustained by James 
  Doyle by reason of the Federal Government's taking of approximately 
  2,000 acres of his land located in the St. George area of Utah, now 
  designated as the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and set aside as habitat 
  for the Mojave desert tortoise, a species listed under the Endangered 
  Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
      (b) Full Satisfaction of Claims.--The payment made under subsection 
  (a) shall be in full satisfaction of all claims of James Doyle against 
  the United States.
target: Provides for the relief of James Doyle, doing business as Rocky Mountain Ventures and Environmental Land Technologies, Ltd.
feat_title: Red Cliffs Desert Reserve Completion Act