Justice WILLETT delivered the opinion of the Court.

We deny the motion for rehearing. We withdraw our opinion of August 26, 2011 and substitute the following in its place.

The Texas Constitution safeguards private property by declaring that eminent domain can only be exercised for "public use."1 Even when the Legislature grants certain private entities "the right and power of eminent domain,"2 the over-arching constitutional rule controls: no taking of property for private use.3 Accordingly, the Natural Resources Code requires so-called "common carrier" pipeline companies to transport carbon dioxide "to or for the public for hire."4 In other words, a CO2 pipeline company cannot wield eminent domain to build a private pipeline, one "limited in [its] use to the wells, stations, plants, and refineries of the owner."5 A common carrier transporting gas for hire implies a customer other than the pipeline owner itself.

This property-rights dispute asks whether a landowner can challenge in court the eminent-domain power of a CO2 pipeline owner that has been granted a common-carrier permit from the Railroad Commission. The court of appeals answered no, holding that (1) a pipeline owner can conclusively acquire the right to condemn private property by checking the right boxes on a one-page form filed with the Railroad Commission, and (2) a landowner cannot challenge in court whether the proposed pipeline will in fact be public rather than private. We disagree. Unadorned assertions of public use are constitutionally insufficient. Merely registering as a common carrier does not conclusively convey the extraordinary power of eminent domain or bar landowners from contesting in court whether a planned pipeline meets statutory common-carrier requirements. Nothing in Texas law leaves landowners so vulnerable to unconstitutional private takings. We reverse the court of appeals' judgment and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Background

Denbury Resources, Inc. is a publicly traded Delaware corporation that owns all of Denbury Operating Company. Denbury Operating Company has no employees or physical assets, but owns all the stock of two subsidiaries—Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC (Denbury Green) and Denbury Onshore, LLC. Denbury Resources and its affiliates (collectively Denbury) share corporate officers and are all located in the same offices in Plano, Texas.

Denbury is engaged in tertiary recovery operations that involve the injection of CO2 into existing oil wells to increase production. Denbury owns a naturally occurring CO2 reserve in Mississippi known as Jackson Dome, and desired to build a CO2 pipeline from Jackson Dome to Texas oil wells to facilitate tertiary operations on the wells. The record contains some evidence that, in the future, Denbury might purchase man-made or "anthropogenic" CO2 from third parties and transport it in the pipeline.

In March 2008, Denbury Green applied with the Railroad Commission to operate a CO2 pipeline in Texas. This pipeline ;would be a continuation of a pipeline originating at Jackson Dome in Mississippi and traversing Louisiana. Denbury Green's portion of the pipeline would extend from the Texas-Louisiana border to the Hastings Field in Brazoria and Galveston counties. The one-page permit application, designated a Form T-4, has two boxes for the applicant to indicate whether the pipeline will be operated as "a common carrier" or "a private line." Denbury Green placed an "x" in the common-carrier box. Separately and also relevant to common-carrier status, applicants are directed to mark one of three boxes if the pipeline will not be transporting "only the gas and/or liquids produced by pipeline owner or operator." Of the three boxes, indicating the gas will be "[p]urchased from others," "[o]wned by others, but transported for a fee," or "[b]oth purchased and transported for others," Denbury Green marked the box for "[o]wned by others, but transported for a fee." Denbury Green also submitted a letter, pursuant to Section 111.002(6) of the Natural Resources Code,6 stating that it "accepts the provisions of Chapter 111 of the Natural Resources Code and expressly agrees that it is a common carrier subject to duties and obligations conferred by Chapter 111."

In April 2008, eight days after Denbury Green filed its application, the Commission granted the T-4 permit. In July 2008, the Commission furnished a letter to Denbury Green, stating:

In November 2008, Denbury Green filed a tariff with the Commission setting out terms for the transportation of gas in the pipeline. The administrative process for granting the permit was conducted without a hearing and without notice to landowners along the proposed pipeline route.

Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd. has an ownership interest in two tracts along the pipeline route. When Denbury Green came to survey the land in preparation for condemning a pipeline easement, Texas Rice Land Partners and a lessee, rice farmer Mike Latta (collectively Texas Rice), refused entry. Denbury Green sued Texas Rice for an injunction allowing access to the tracts.7 On cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of Denbury Green. The trial court found that Denbury Green "is a `common carrier' pursuant to Section 111.002(6) of the Texas Natural Resources Code" and "has the power of eminent domain/authority to condemn/right-to-take pursuant to Section 111.019 of the Texas Natural Resources Code." The court permanently enjoined Texas Rice from (1) interfering with Denbury Green's "right to enter and survey" its proposed pipeline route across Texas Rice's land, and (2) harassing Denbury Green or its agents and contractors while conducting the surveys.

The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that Denbury Green had established as a matter of law its common-carrier status.8 The court relied on the fact that the pipeline "will be available for public use from the outset of its operation."9 One justice dissented, believing genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment.10 The dissent reasoned that eminent-domain power cannot extend to the taking of property for private use and that "[m]erely offering a transportation service for a profit does not distinguish a private use from a public use."11

II. Discussion

A. Common Carriers and the Power of Eminent Domain

The Natural Resources Code regulates CO2 pipelines serving as common carriers. Three Code provisions are particularly relevant.

Section 111.002(6) states a person is a common carrier if he:

Section 111.003(a) states:

Section 111.019 states in part:

While these provisions plainly give private pipeline companies the power of eminent domain, that authority is subject to special scrutiny by the courts. The power of eminent domain is substantial12 but constitutionally circumscribed. Article 1, Section 17 of the Texas Constitution provides, "No person's property shall be taken ... for or applied to public use without adequate compensation...." This provision not only requires just compensation to the property owner, but also "prohibits the taking of property for private use."13

The legislative grant of eminent-domain power is strictly construed in two regards. First, strict compliance with all statutory requirements is required.14 Second, in instances of doubt as to the scope of the power, the statute granting such power is "strictly construed in favor of the landowner and against those corporations and arms of the State vested therewith."15

B. The T-4 Permit Granted By the Railroad Commission Does Not Conclusively Establish Eminent-Domain Power

The parties dispute whether Denbury Green was entitled to summary judgment on the issue of whether it is a common carrier. We hold at the outset that the T-4 permit alone did not conclusively establish Denbury Green's status as a common carrier and confer the power of eminent domain.

Nothing in the statutory scheme indicates that the Commission's decision to grant a common-carrier permit carries conclusive effect and thus bars landowners from disputing in court a pipeline company's naked assertion of public use. As stated above, the right to condemn property is constitutionally limited and turns in part on whether the use of the property is public or private. We have long held that "the ultimate question of whether a particular use is a public use is a judicial question to be decided by the courts."16 We have also held in numerous contexts that the Commission does not have authority to determine property rights.17 We presume the Legislature is aware of relevant caselaw when it enacts statutes.18 Had the Legislature intended a T-4 permit to render a company's common-carrier status and eminent-domain power unchallengeable, it would have said so explicitly. "[W]hen an action is inherently judicial in nature, the courts retain jurisdiction to determine the controversy unless the legislature by valid statute has expressly granted exclusive jurisdiction to the administrative body."19

Further, the record, rules, and statutes before us indicate that the Commission's process for granting a T-4 permit undertakes no effort to confirm that the applicant's pipeline will be public rather than private. The Commission's website states that the Commission "does not have the authority to regulate any pipelines with respect to the exercise of their eminent domain powers."20 A spokesperson for the Commission stated in 2008 that it had never denied a T-4 permit, and that the Commission grants them for "administrative purposes."21 Apparently, in order to receive a common-carrier permit, the applicant need only place an "x" in a box indicating that the pipeline will be operated as a common carrier, and to agree under Section 111.002(6) to subject itself to "duties and obligations conferred or imposed" by Chapter 111. Under these minimal requirements, Denbury Green reported itself as a common carrier and obtained a permit a few days later. There was no investigation, and certainly no adversarial testing, of whether Denbury Green was indeed entitled to common-carrier status and the extraordinary power to condemn private property. Denbury Green concedes in its brief that the Commission "did not adjudicate anything." Private property cannot be imperiled with such nonchalance, via an irrefutable presumption created by checking a certain box on a one-page government form. Our Constitution demands far more.

The Railroad Commission's process for handling T-4 permits appears to be one of registration, not of application. The record suggests that in accepting an entity's paperwork, the Commission performs a clerical rather than an adjudicative act. The registrant simply submits a form indicating its desire to be classified as a common (or private) carrier. No notice is given to affected parties. No hearing is held, no evidence is presented, no investigation is conducted. It is true that Commission regulations covering CO2 pipelines (1) state that permit applications will be granted if the Commission is satisfied "from such application and the evidence in support thereof, and its own investigation" that the pipeline will "reduce to a minimum the possibility of waste, and will be operated in accordance with the conservation laws and conservation rules and regulations of the commission," and (2) require CO2 pipelines to comply with certain safety requirements.22 However, as for the core constitutional concern—the pipeline's public vs. private use—the parties point to no regulation or enabling legislation directing the Commission to investigate and determine whether a pipeline will in fact serve the public. Given this scant legislative and administrative scheme, we cannot conceive that the Legislature intended the granting of a T-4 permit alone to prohibit a landowner—who was not a party to the Commission permitting process and had no notice of it—from challenging in court the eminent-domain power of a permit holder.

C. The Test for Common-Carrier Status

To qualify as a common carrier with the power of eminent domain, the pipeline must serve the public; it cannot be built only for the builder's exclusive use. As explained above, extending the power of eminent domain to the taking of property for a private use cannot survive constitutional scrutiny. The Denbury Green pipeline would not serve a public use if it were built and maintained only to transport gas belonging to Denbury from one Denbury site to another. In such circumstances, and in the absence of compelling legislative findings and declaration of public purpose, we can see no purpose other than a purely private one.23

The relevant statutes also confirm that a CO2 pipeline owner is not a common carrier if the pipeline's only end user is the owner itself or an affiliate. Section 111.002(6) states a person is a common carrier if it owns or operates a pipeline "for the transportation of carbon dioxide... to or for the public for hire." If Denbury consumes all the pipeline product for itself, it is not transporting gas "to ... the public for hire." Nor can such an arrangement be characterized as transportation of gas "for the public for hire." The term "for the public for hire" implies that the gas is being carried for another who retains ownership of the gas, and that the pipeline is merely a transportation conduit rather than the point where title is transferred.24 Section 111.003(a) further confirms these notions, since it states that the common-carrier provisions "do not apply to pipelines that are limited in their use to the wells, stations, plants, and refineries of the owner and that are not a part of the pipeline transportation system of a common carrier as defined in Section 111.002 of this code."

Denbury Green contends that merely making the pipeline available for public use is sufficient to confer common-carrier status. We disagree, for two reasons. First, this argument is inconsistent with the wording of Section 111.002(6). The statute provides that a common carrier owns or operates a CO2 pipeline "to or for the public for hire, but only if such person files with the commission a written acceptance" agreeing to become "a common carrier subject to the duties and obligations conferred or imposed by this chapter." Denbury Green points out that Chapter 111 contains common-carrier requirements such as the obligation to publish a tariff in Section 111.014, and the obligation not to discriminate among shippers in Section 111.016. But Denbury Green's reading of Section 111.002(6) would confer common-carrier status and eminent-domain power even when the pipeline will never serve the public by transporting CO2 "to or for the public for hire" under the statute—and indeed when there was never any reasonable possibility of such service—so long as the owner agrees to be subject to the Chapter 111 common-carrier regime. As we read the statute, the language that the pipeline be owned or operated "to or for the public for hire" is a separate requirement for common-carrier status, and the statute, in addition, requires the owner or operator to agree to subject itself to Chapter 111. Denbury Green's interpretation would read out of the statute the language that the pipeline be operated "to or for the public for hire." Such a reading contravenes two settled rules: (1) that every word in a statute is presumed to have a purpose and should be given effect if reasonable and possible;25 and (2) that strict compliance with all statutory requirements is required to exercise eminent domain.26 Even absent these rules, the use of "but only if" in the statute suggests that a pipeline operator must meet two requirements to obtain common-carrier status under Chapter 111. It must first meet a broad requirement—that it operate "to or for the public for hire." But it can qualify as a Chapter 111 common carrier if and "only if" it meets an additional requirement—that it subject itself to Commission regulation under Chapter 111. Again, Denbury Green's reading ignores the first requirement and would confer common-carrier status when the second requirement alone is met.

Second, Denbury Green's construction leads to a result that we cannot believe the Legislature intended, namely a gaming of the permitting process to allow a private carrier to wield the power of eminent domain. Suppose an oil company has a well on one property and a refinery on another. A farmer's property lies between the oil company's two properties. The oil company wishes to build a pipeline for the exclusive purpose of transporting its production from its well to its refinery. Only about 50 feet of the proposed pipeline will traverse the farmer's property. The farmer refuses to allow construction of the pipeline across his property. The oil company knows that no party other than itself will ever desire to use the pipeline. In these circumstances, the application for a common-carrier permit is essentially a ruse to obtain eminent-domain power. The oil company should not be able to seize power over the farmer's property simply by applying for a crude oil pipeline permit with the Commission, agreeing to subject itself to the jurisdiction of the Commission and all requirements of Chapter 111, and offering the use of the pipeline to non-existent takers. "A sine qua non of lawful taking . . . for or on account of public use . . . is that the professed use be a public one in truth. Mere fiat, whether pronounced by the Legislature or by a subordinate agency, does not make that a public use which is not such in fact. . . ."27 Hence, we conclude that Denbury Green is not entitled to common-carrier status simply because it obtained a common-carrier permit, filed a tariff, and agreed to make the pipeline available to any third party wishing to transport its gas in the pipeline and willing to pay the tariff. The statute does not allow such a result, particularly in light of the rule, stated above, that statutes granting eminent-domain power must be strictly construed in favor of the landowner.

We accordingly hold that for a person intending to build a CO2 pipeline to qualify as a common carrier under Section 111.002(6),28 a reasonable probability29 must exist that the pipeline will at some point after construction serve the public by transporting gas for one or more customers who will either retain ownership of their gas30 or sell it to parties other than the carrier.

Consistent with judicial review of Commission determinations generally, a permit granting common-carrier status is prima facie valid.31 But once a landowner challenges that status, the burden falls upon the pipeline company to establish its common-carrier bona fides if it wishes to exercise the power of eminent domain.

D. Denbury Green Was Not Entitled to Summary Judgment

Under our test, Denbury Green did not establish common-carrier status as a matter of law. A Denbury Green vice president attested that Denbury Green was negotiating with other parties to transport anthropogenic CO2 in the pipeline, and that the pipeline "can transport carbon dioxide tendered by Denbury entities as well as carbon dioxide tendered from other entities and facilities not owned by Denbury." This affidavit does not indicate whether Denbury Green itself intended to use all of that gas for its own tertiary recovery operations. As discussed above, a carrier is not a common carrier if it transports gas only for its own consumption. The witness also stated in his deposition that the CO2 carried in the pipeline would be owned by affiliate Denbury Onshore, but that there was "the possibility we'll be transporting other people's CO2 in the future." He did not identify any possible customers and was unaware of any other entity unaffiliated with Denbury Green that owned CO2 near the pipeline route in Louisiana and Mississippi. This evidence does not establish a reasonable probability that such transportation would ever occur.

Further, the record includes portions of Denbury's own website that suggest the pipeline would be exclusively for private use. In describing the pipeline project, the site states:

As the dissent in the court of appeals noted, these statements are "some evidence Denbury intends to fully utilize the Green Pipeline as an essential part of its tertiary oil production operations. Denbury's description of the pipeline's purpose indicates the CO2 it transports in the pipeline will be its own. . . ."32 Denbury Green's representations suggesting that it (1) owns most or all of the naturally occurring CO2 in the region, (2) intends to purchase all the man-made CO2 that might be produced under current and future agreements, (3) sees its access to CO2 as giving it a significant advantage over its competitors, and (4) intends to fully utilize the pipeline for its own purposes, are all inconsistent with public use of the pipeline. As Denbury Green did not establish common-carrier status as a matter of law, it was not entitled to summary judgment.

III. Conclusion

Pipeline development is indisputably important given our State's fast-growing energy needs, but economic dynamism—and more fundamentally, freedom itself—also demand strong protections for individual property rights. Locke deemed the preservation of property rights "[t]he great and chief end" of government,33 a view this Court echoed almost 300 years later, calling it "one of the most important purposes of government." 34 Indeed, our Constitution and laws enshrine landownership as a keystone right, rather than one "relegated to the status of a poor relation."35

A private enterprise cannot acquire unchallengeable condemnation power under Section 111.002(6) merely by checking boxes on a one-page form and self-declaring its common-carrier status. Merely holding oneself out is insufficient under Texas law to thwart judicial review. While neighboring states impose fewer restrictions on the level of public use required for such takings,36 meaning companies may seize land to build pipelines for their exclusive use,37 the Texas Legislature enacted a regime more protective of landowners. If a landowner challenges an entity's common-carrier designation, the company must present reasonable proof of a future customer, thus demonstrating that the pipeline will indeed transport "to or for the public for hire" and is not "limited in [its] use to the wells, stations, plants, and refineries of the owner." We reverse the court of appeals' judgment, and remand this case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.