1. This case presents an important and recurring question: whether the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause guarantees just compensation when the government forces a utility to relocate its facilities (pipes, poles, etc.) to make way for a public project. This Court has held that the government must pay the utility's relocation costs caused by a "proprietary" (as opposed to a "governmental") use of the streets. Los Angeles v. Los Angeles Gas & Electric Corp., 251 U.S. 32, 38-39 (1919). Respondent required applicants to relocate some of their facilities for the construction of a streetcar line, which longstanding precedent classifies as proprietary. The court of appeals held that respondent need not pay compensation here because the court could posit a "public purpose" for the project based on respondent's "statutory authority" to construct a streetcar line. App., infra, 7a, 17a. That holding conflicts with Los Angeles Gas & Electric and decisions of lower courts that have correctly applied this Court's precedent.

2. The Ninth Circuit's decision that the Takings Clause allows respondent to offload the costs of its project onto applicants warrants this Court's review.

Whether the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause requires just compensation when a government entity compels a utility to relocate its infrastructure for a public transit project