Cite as: 524 U. S. 498 (1998)
Opinion of Kennedy, J.
regulatory takings concept has assumed in our law, it is fair to say it has proved difficult to explain in theory and to implement in practice. Cases attempting to decide when a regulation becomes a taking are among the most litigated and perplexing in current law. See Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104, 123 (1978) ("The question of what constitutes a 'taking' for purposes of the Fifth Amendment has proved to be a problem of considerable difficulty"); Kaiser Aetna v. United States, 444 U. S. 164, 175 (1979) (the regulatory taking question requires an "essentially ad hoc, factual inquir[y]").
Until today, however, one constant limitation has been that in all of the cases where the regulatory taking analysis has been employed, a specific property right or interest has been at stake. After the decision in Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, supra, we confronted cases where specific and identified properties or property rights were alleged to come within the regulatory takings prohibition: air rights for high-rise buildings, Penn Central, supra; zoning on parcels of real property, e. g., MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. Yolo County, 477 U. S. 340 (1986); Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U. S. 255 (1980); trade secrets, Ruckelshaus v. Monsanto Co., 467 U. S. 986 (1984); right of access to property, e. g., Prune-Yard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U. S. 74 (1980); Kaiser Aetna, supra; right to affix on structures, Loretto v. Tele-prompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U. S. 419 (1982); right to transfer property by devise or intestacy, e. g., Hodel v. Irving, 481 U. S. 704 (1987); creation of an easement, Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U. S. 374 (1994); Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n, 483 U. S. 825 (1987); right to build or improve, Lucas, supra; liens on real property, Armstrong v. United States, 364 U. S. 40 (1960); right to mine coal, Key-stone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictis, 480 U. S. 470 (1987); right to sell personal property, Andrus v. Allard, 444 U. S. 51 (1979); and the right to extract mineral deposits, Goldblatt v. Hempstead, 369 U. S. 590 (1962); United States
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