IB 

Union Calendar No. 219 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2358 

[Report No. 114–287, Part I] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2015 

Mr. ZINKE (for himself and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GOSAR, Mr. KLINE, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mrs. LUMMIS, 

Mr. PEARCE, Mr. KIND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. COLE, Mr. 

WESTERMAN, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. JONES, Mr. POMPEO, and Mr. 

GUTHRIE

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of the 

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 15, 2015] 


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A BILL 

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 FED8 ERAL LANDS CONTAINING ELECTRIC TRANS9 MISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Federal Land Policy 

11 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 512. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC14 TION, AND OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE 

15 RELATING TO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION AND 

16 DISTRIBUTION FACILITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 

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

18 reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of 

19 wildfires to and from electric transmission and distribution 

20 rights-of-way and related facilities and adjacent property, 

21 the Secretary, with respect to public lands and other lands 

22 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, and the Secretary 

23 of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System 

24 lands, shall provide direction to ensure that all existing and 

25 future rights-of-way, however established (including by 


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1 grant, special use authorization, and easement), for elec2 trical transmission and distribution facilities on such lands 

3 include provisions for utility vegetation management, facil4 ity inspection, and operation and maintenance activities 

5 that, while consistent with applicable law— 

6 ‘‘(1) are developed in consultation with the hold7 er of the right-of-way; 

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

9 operate and maintain the facility in good working 

10 order and to comply with Federal, State and local 

11 electric system reliability and fire safety require12 ments, including reliability standards established by 

13 the North American Electric Reliability Corporation 

14 and plans to meet such reliability standards; 

15 ‘‘(3) minimize the need for case-by-case or an16 nual approvals for— 

17 ‘‘(A) routine vegetation management, facil18 ity inspection, and operation and maintenance 

19 activities within existing electrical transmission 

20 and distribution rights-of-way; and 

21 ‘‘(B) utility vegetation management activi22 ties that are necessary to control hazard trees 

23 within or adjacent to electrical transmission and 

24 distribution rights-of-way; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) when review is required, provide for expe2 dited review and approval of utility vegetation man3 agement, facility inspection, and operation and 

4 maintenance activities, especially activities requiring 

5 prompt action to avoid an adverse impact on human 

6 safety or electric reliability to avoid fire hazards. 

7 ‘‘(b) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPEC8 TION, AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLANS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION.—Con10 sistent with subsection (a), the Secretary and the Sec11 retary of Agriculture shall provide owners and opera12 tors of electric transmission and distribution facilities 

13 located on lands described in such subsection with the 

14 option to develop and submit a vegetation manage15 ment, facility inspection, and operation and mainte16 nance plan, that at each owner or operator’s trans17 mission discretion may cover some or all of the owner 

18 or operator’s transmission and distribution rights-of19 way on Federal lands, for approval to the Secretary 

20 with jurisdiction over the lands. A plan under this 

21 paragraph shall enable the owner or operator of a fa22 cility, at a minimum, to comply with applicable Fed23 eral, State, and local electric system reliability and 

24 fire safety requirements, as provided in subsection 


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

2 modify those requirements. 

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

4 Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall joint5 ly develop a consolidated and coordinated process for 

6 review and approval of— 

7 ‘‘(A) vegetation management, facility in8 spection, and operation and maintenance plans 

9 submitted under paragraph (1) that— 

10 ‘‘(i) assures prompt review and ap11 proval not to exceed 90 days; 

12 ‘‘(ii) includes timelines and bench13 marks for agency comments to submitted 

14 plans and final approval of such plans; 

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

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iv) minimizes the costs of the process 

18 to the reviewing agency and the entity sub19 mitting the plans; and 

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

21 manner if changed conditions necessitate a modi22 fication to a plan. 

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

24 process under paragraph (2) shall— 


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

2 any changed conditions that warrant a modi3 fication to a plan; 

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

5 or operator to submit a proposed plan amend6 ment to address directly the changed condition; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) allow the owner or operator to con9 tinue to implement those elements of the ap10 proved plan that do not directly and adversely 

11 affect the condition precipitating the need for 

12 modification. 

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

14 Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

15 apply his or her categorical exclusion process under 

16 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

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

18 subsection on existing transmission and distribution 

19 rights-of-way under this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION.—A plan approved under 

21 this subsection shall become part of the authorization 

22 governing the covered right-of-way and hazard trees 

23 adjacent to the right-of-way. If a vegetation manage24 ment plan is proposed for an existing transmission 

25 and distribution facility concurrent with the siting of 


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1 a new transmission or distribution facility, necessary 

2 reviews shall be completed as part of the siting proc3 ess or sooner. Once the plan is approved, the owner 

4 or operator shall provide the agency with only a noti5 fication of activities anticipated to be undertaken in 

6 the coming year, a description of those activities, and 

7 certification that the activities are in accordance with 

8 the plan. 

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

10 ‘‘(A) VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY

11 INSPECTION, AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

12 PLAN.—The term ‘vegetation management, facil13 ity inspection, and operation and maintenance 

14 plan’ means a plan that— 

15 ‘‘(i) is prepared by the owner or oper16 ator of one or more electrical transmission 

17 or distribution facilities to cover one or 

18 more electric transmission and distribution 

19 rights-of-way; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) provides for the long-term, cost-ef21 fective, efficient and timely management of 

22 facilities and vegetation within the width of 

23 the right-of-way and adjacent Federal lands 

24 to enhance electricity reliability, promote 

25 public safety, and avoid fire hazards. 


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1 ‘‘(B) OWNER OR OPERATOR.—The terms 

2 ‘owner’ and ‘operator’ include contractors or 

3 other agents engaged by the owner or operator of 

4 a facility. 

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

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

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

8 found by the either the owner or operator of a 

9 transmission or distribution facility, or the Sec10 retary or the Secretary of Agriculture, to be like11 ly to fail and cause a high risk of injury, dam12 age, or disruption within 10 feet or less of an 

13 electric power line or related structure if it fell. 

14 ‘‘(c) RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY CONDITIONS.—If vege15 tation on Federal lands within, or hazard trees on Federal 

16 lands adjacent to, an electrical transmission or distribution 

17 right-of-way granted by the Secretary or the Secretary of 

18 Agriculture has contacted or is in imminent danger of con19 tacting one or more electric transmission or distribution 

20 lines, the owner or operator of the transmission or distribu21 tion lines— 

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

23 avoid the disruption of electric service and risk of 

24 fire; and 


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

2 the relevant Secretary not later than 24 hours after 

3 such removal. 

4 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE RELIABILITY

5 AND SAFETY STANDARDS.—If vegetation on Federal lands 

6 within or adjacent to an electrical transmission or distribu7 tion right-of-way under the jurisdiction of each Secretary 

8 does not meet clearance requirements under standards es9 tablished by the North American Electric Reliability Cor10 poration, or by State and local authorities, and the Sec11 retary having jurisdiction over the lands has failed to act 

12 to allow a transmission or distribution facility owner or 

13 operator to conduct vegetation management activities with14 in 3 business days after receiving a request to allow such 

15 activities, the owner or operator may, after notifying the 

16 Secretary, conduct such vegetation management activities 

17 to meet those clearance requirements. 

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

19 Secretary of Agriculture shall report requests and actions 

20 made under subsections (c) and (d) annually on each Sec21 retary’s website. 

22 ‘‘(f) LIABILITY.—An owner or operator of a trans23 mission or distribution facility shall not be held liable for 

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

25 suppression, if— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the Secretary or the Secretary of Agri2 culture fails to allow the owner or operator to operate 

3 consistently with an approved vegetation manage4 ment, facility inspection, and operation and mainte5 nance plan on Federal lands under the relevant Sec6 retary’s jurisdiction within or adjacent to a right-of7 way to comply with Federal, State or local electric 

8 system reliability and fire safety standards, including 

9 standards established by the North American Electric 

10 Reliability Corporation; or 

11 ‘‘(2) the Secretary or the Secretary of Agri12 culture fails to allow the owner or operator of the 

13 transmission or distribution facility to perform ap14 propriate vegetation management activities in re15 sponse to an identified hazard tree as defined under 

16 subsection (b)(6), or a tree in imminent danger of 

17 contacting the owner’s or operator’s transmission or 

18 distribution facility. 

19 ‘‘(g) TRAINING AND GUIDANCE.—In consultation with 

20 the electric utility industry, the Secretary and the Secretary 

21 of Agriculture are encouraged to develop a program to train 

22 personnel of the Department of the Interior and the Forest 

23 Service involved in vegetation management decisions relat24 ing to transmission and distribution facilities to ensure 

25 that such personnel— 


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1 ‘‘(1) understand electric system reliability and 

2 fire safety requirements, including reliability stand3 ards established by the North American Electric Reli4 ability Corporation; 

5 ‘‘(2) assist owners and operators of transmission 

6 and distribution facilities to comply with applicable 

7 electric reliability and fire safety requirements; and 

8 ‘‘(3) encourage and assist willing owners and op9 erators of transmission and distribution facilities to 

10 incorporate on a voluntary basis vegetation manage11 ment practices to enhance habitats and forage for pol12 linators and for other wildlife so long as the practices 

13 are compatible with the integrated vegetation man14 agement practices necessary for reliability and safety. 

15 ‘‘(h) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of the Interior 

16 and the Secretary of Agriculture shall— 

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

18 enactment of this section, prescribe regulations, or 

19 amend existing regulations, to implement this section; 

20 and 

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

22 enactment of this section, finalize regulations, or 

23 amend existing regulations, to implement this section. 

24 ‘‘(i) EXISTING VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, FACILITY

25 INSPECTION AND OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLANS.— 


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1 Nothing in this section requires an owner or operator to 

2 develop and submit a vegetation management, facility in3 spection, and operation and maintenance plan if one has 

4 already been approved by the Secretary or Secretary of Ag5 riculture before the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for 

7 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

8 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.), is amended by inserting after the item 

9 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.’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 219 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2358 

[Report No. 114–287, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Managetating vegetation management on such lands. distribution facilities on Federal lands by facili- wildfires to and from electric transmission and the electricity grid and reduce the threat of ment Act of 1976 to enhance the reliability of 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to 

Union and ordered to be printed the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS