0.5 Policy. In acquiring real property, or any interest in real property, the United States will impartially protect the interests of the public and ensure the fair and equitable treatment of those whose property is needed for public purposes. As a general policy, the United States bases its property acquisitions on appraisals of market value, the standard adopted by the courts as the practical, objective measure of just compensation.

“[I]t is the duty of the state,
in the conduct of the inquest
by which the compensation is
ascertained, to see that it is just,
not merely to the individual
whose property is taken but to
the public which is to pay for it.”

— Bauman v. Ross, 167 U.S. 548,
574 (1897)