IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1873 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 

of 1976 to enhance the reliability of the electricity grid 

and reduce the threat of wildfires to and from electric 

transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands 

by facilitating vegetation management on such lands. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electricity Reliability 

5 and Forest Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPECTION, 

7 AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE ON 

8 FEDERAL LANDS CONTAINING ELECTRIC 

9 TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILI10 TIES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Federal Land Pol12 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.) 

13 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 512. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC15 TION, AND OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE 

16 RELATING TO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND 

17 DISTRIBUTION FACILITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

18 ‘‘(a) GENERAL DIRECTION.—In order to enhance the 

19 reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of 

20 wildfires to and from electric transmission and distribu21 tion rights-of-way and related facilities and adjacent prop22 erty, the Secretary, with respect to public lands and other 

23 lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, and the Sec24 retary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest Sys25 tem lands, shall provide direction to ensure that all existVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1873.RFS H1873

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1 ing and future rights-of-way, however established (includ2 ing by grant, special use authorization, and easement), for 

3 electrical transmission and distribution facilities on such 

4 lands include provisions for utility vegetation manage5 ment, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance 

6 activities that, while consistent with applicable law— 

7 ‘‘(1) are developed in consultation with the 

8 holder of the right-of-way; 

9 ‘‘(2) enable the owner or operator of a facility 

10 to operate and maintain the facility in good working 

11 order and to comply with Federal, State and local 

12 electric system reliability and fire safety require13 ments, including reliability standards established by 

14 the Electric Reliability Organization as defined 

15 under 16 U.S.C. 824o(a) and plans to meet such re16 liability standards; 

17 ‘‘(3) minimize the need for case-by-case or an18 nual approvals for— 

19 ‘‘(A) routine vegetation management, facil20 ity inspection, and operation and maintenance 

21 activities within existing electrical transmission 

22 and distribution rights-of-way; and 

23 ‘‘(B) utility vegetation management activi24 ties that are necessary to control hazard trees 


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1 within or adjacent to electrical transmission and 

2 distribution rights-of-way; and 

3 ‘‘(4) when review is required, provide for expe4 dited review and approval of utility vegetation man5 agement, facility inspection, and operation and 

6 maintenance activities, especially activities requiring 

7 prompt action to avoid an adverse impact on human 

8 safety or electric reliability to avoid fire hazards. 

9 ‘‘(b) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC10 TION, AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLANS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION.—Con12 sistent with subsection (a), the Secretary and the 

13 Secretary of Agriculture shall provide owners and 

14 operators of electric transmission and distribution 

15 facilities located on lands described in such sub16 section with the option to develop and submit a 

17 vegetation management, facility inspection, and op18 eration and maintenance plan, that at each trans19 mission or distribution owner or operator’s discre20 tion may cover some or all of the owner or opera21 tor’s transmission and distribution rights-of-way on 

22 Federal lands, for approval to the Secretary with ju23 risdiction over the lands. A plan under this para24 graph shall enable the owner or operator of a facil25 ity, at a minimum, to comply with applicable FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1873.RFS H1873

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1 eral, State, and local electric system reliability and 

2 fire safety requirements, as provided in subsection 

3 (a)(2). The Secretaries shall not have the authority 

4 to modify those requirements. 

5 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL PROCESS.—The 

6 Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

7 jointly develop a consolidated and coordinated proc8 ess for review and approval of— 

9 ‘‘(A) vegetation management, facility in10 spection, and operation and maintenance plans 

11 submitted under paragraph (1) that— 

12 ‘‘(i) assures prompt review and ap13 proval not to exceed 90 days; 

14 ‘‘(ii) includes timelines and bench15 marks for agency comments to submitted 

16 plans and final approval of such plans; 

17 ‘‘(iii) is consistent with applicable law; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iv) minimizes the costs of the proc20 ess to the reviewing agency and the entity 

21 submitting the plans; and 

22 ‘‘(B) amendments to the plans in a prompt 

23 manner if changed conditions necessitate a 

24 modification to a plan. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—The review and approval 

2 process under paragraph (2) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) include notification by the agency of 

4 any changed conditions that warrant a modi5 fication to a plan; 

6 ‘‘(B) provide an opportunity for the owner 

7 or operator to submit a proposed plan amend8 ment to address directly the changed condition; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(C) allow the owner or operator to con11 tinue to implement those elements of the ap12 proved plan that do not directly and adversely 

13 affect the condition precipitating the need for 

14 modification. 

15 ‘‘(4) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION PROCESS.—The 

16 Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

17 apply his or her categorical exclusion process under 

18 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

19 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to plans developed under this 

20 subsection on existing transmission and distribution 

21 rights-of-way under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION.—A plan approved 

23 under this subsection shall become part of the au24 thorization governing the covered right-of-way and 

25 hazard trees adjacent to the right-of-way. If a vegeVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1873.RFS H1873

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1 tation management plan is proposed for an existing 

2 transmission or distribution facility concurrent with 

3 the siting of a new transmission or distribution facil4 ity, necessary reviews shall be completed as part of 

5 the siting process or sooner. Once the plan is ap6 proved, the owner or operator shall provide the agen7 cy with only a notification of activities anticipated to 

8 be undertaken in the coming year, a description of 

9 those activities, and certification that the activities 

10 are in accordance with the plan. 

11 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 ‘‘(A) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACIL13 ITY INSPECTION, AND OPERATION AND MAINTE14 NANCE PLAN.—The term ‘vegetation manage15 ment, facility inspection, and operation and 

16 maintenance plan’ means a plan that— 

17 ‘‘(i) is prepared by the owner or oper18 ator of one or more electrical transmission 

19 or distribution facilities to cover one or 

20 more electric transmission and distribution 

21 rights-of-way; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) provides for the long-term, cost23 effective, efficient and timely management 

24 of facilities and vegetation within the width 

25 of the right-of-way and adjacent Federal 


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1 lands to enhance electricity reliability, pro2 mote public safety, and avoid fire hazards. 

3 ‘‘(B) OWNER OR OPERATOR.—The terms 

4 ‘owner’ and ‘operator’ include contractors or 

5 other agents engaged by the owner or operator 

6 of a facility. 

7 ‘‘(C) HAZARD TREE.—The term ‘hazard 

8 tree’ means any tree inside the right-of-way or 

9 located outside the right-of-way that has been 

10 designated, prior to tree failure, by either the 

11 owner or operator of a transmission or distribu12 tion facility, or the Secretary or the Secretary 

13 of Agriculture, to be likely to fail and cause a 

14 high risk of injury, damage, or disruption with15 in 10 feet or less of an electric power line or 

16 related structure if it fell. 

17 ‘‘(c) RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY CONDITIONS.—If 

18 vegetation on Federal lands within, or hazard trees on 

19 Federal lands adjacent to, an electrical transmission or 

20 distribution right-of-way granted by the Secretary or the 

21 Secretary of Agriculture has contacted or is in imminent 

22 danger of contacting one or more electric transmission or 

23 distribution lines, the owner or operator of the trans24 mission or distribution lines— 


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1 ‘‘(1) may prune or remove the vegetation or 

2 hazard tree to avoid the disruption of electric service 

3 and risk of fire; and 

4 ‘‘(2) shall notify the appropriate local agent of 

5 the relevant Secretary not later than 24 hours after 

6 such removal. 

7 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE RELIABILITY

8 AND SAFETY STANDARDS.—If vegetation on Federal 

9 lands within or adjacent to an electrical transmission or 

10 distribution right-of-way under the jurisdiction of each 

11 Secretary does not meet clearance requirements under 

12 standards established by the Electric Reliability Organiza13 tion as defined under 16 U.S.C. 824o(a), or by State and 

14 local authorities, and the Secretary having jurisdiction 

15 over the lands has failed to act to allow a transmission 

16 or distribution facility owner or operator to conduct vege17 tation management activities within 3 business days after 

18 receiving a request to allow such activities, the owner or 

19 operator may, after notifying the Secretary, conduct such 

20 vegetation management activities to meet those clearance 

21 requirements. 

22 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary or 

23 Secretary of Agriculture shall report requests and actions 

24 made under subsections (c) and (d) annually on each Sec25 retary’s website. 


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1 ‘‘(f) LIABILITY.—An owner or operator of a trans2 mission or distribution facility shall not be held liable for 

3 wildfire damage, loss or injury, including the cost of fire 

4 suppression, if— 

5 ‘‘(1) the Secretary or the Secretary of Agri6 culture fails to allow the owner or operator to oper7 ate consistently with an approved vegetation man8 agement, facility inspection, and operation and 

9 maintenance plan on Federal lands under the rel10 evant Secretary’s jurisdiction within or adjacent to 

11 a right-of-way to comply with Federal, State or local 

12 electric system reliability and fire safety standards, 

13 including standards established by the Electric Reli14 ability Organization as defined under 16 U.S.C. 

15 824o(a); or 

16 ‘‘(2) the Secretary or the Secretary of Agri17 culture fails to allow the owner or operator of the 

18 transmission or distribution facility to perform ap19 propriate vegetation management activities in re20 sponse to a hazard tree as defined under subsection 

21 (b)(6), or a tree in imminent danger of contacting 

22 the owner’s or operator’s transmission or distribu23 tion facility. 

24 ‘‘(g) TRAINING AND GUIDANCE.—In consultation 

25 with the electric utility industry, the Secretary and the 


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1 Secretary of Agriculture are encouraged to develop a pro2 gram to train personnel of the Department of the Interior 

3 and the Forest Service involved in vegetation management 

4 decisions on rights-of-way relating to transmission and 

5 distribution facilities to ensure that such personnel— 

6 ‘‘(1) understand electric system reliability and 

7 fire safety requirements, including reliability stand8 ards established by the Electric Reliability Organiza9 tion as defined under 16 U.S.C. 824o(a); 

10 ‘‘(2) assist owners and operators of trans11 mission and distribution facilities to comply with ap12 plicable electric reliability and fire safety require13 ments; 

14 ‘‘(3) encourage and assist willing owners and 

15 operators of transmission and distribution facilities 

16 to incorporate on a voluntary basis vegetation man17 agement practices to enhance habitats and forage 

18 for pollinators and for other wildlife so long as the 

19 practices are compatible with the integrated vegeta20 tion management practices necessary for reliability 

21 and safety; and 

22 ‘‘(4) understand how existing and emerging un23 manned technologies can help electric utilities, Fed24 eral, State, and local governments, and private land25 owners to more efficiently identify vegetation manVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Jun 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1873.RFS H1873

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1 agement needs, lower ratepayer energy costs, and re2 duce the risk of wildfires. 

3 ‘‘(h) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of the Inte4 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) not later than one year after the date of 

6 the enactment of this section, prescribe regulations, 

7 or amend existing regulations, to implement this sec8 tion; and 

9 ‘‘(2) not later than two years after the date of 

10 the enactment of this section, finalize regulations, or 

11 amend existing regulations, to implement this sec12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(i) EXISTING VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACIL14 ITY INSPECTION AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

15 PLANS.—Nothing in this section requires an owner or op16 erator to develop and submit a vegetation management, 

17 facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan if 

18 one has already been approved by the Secretary or Sec19 retary of Agriculture before the date of the enactment of 

20 this section.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

22 for the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

23 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.), is amended by inserting after 

24 the item relating to section 511 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 512. Vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance relating to electric transmission and distribution facility rights-of-way.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. NO LOSS OF FUNDS FOR WILD-FIRE SUPPRESSION. 

2 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

3 Act shall detract from the availability of funds or other 

4 resources for wild-fire suppression. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 21, 2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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