Section 7(h) of the Natural Gas Act grants a private interstate natural gas pipeline holding a FERC certificate of public convenience and necessity the power to condemn land needed for the certificated route, a delegation of federal eminent domain authority to a private entity that is itself sometimes challenged but has generally been upheld by courts.

Certificated pipelines frequently seek a preliminary injunction granting immediate possession — often called quick-take practice — allowing construction to proceed before the final just-compensation amount is determined, on the theory that construction delay itself causes irreparable harm to the certificated project; landowners contest both the availability of quick-take relief and, separately, the ultimate valuation of the easement.

Just-compensation valuation in pipeline easement cases typically requires expert appraisal testimony addressing the easement's fair market value, any severance damage to the remaining property from bisecting the parcel, and diminution in value to the remainder, making valuation methodology as central to the dispute as the condemnation authority itself. A Juricratic simulation can model quick-take likelihood and valuation-methodology assumptions as separate dials to rehearse a landowner's or pipeline's expected timeline and compensation range.

Pipeline easement condemnation cases typically follow FERC certification of an interstate gas pipeline route, with the pipeline company filing condemnation actions against landowners along the route who did not voluntarily grant an easement, often paired with a request for immediate possession pending final valuation.