I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3919 
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to enhance the 
reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of wildfires to 
electric transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands by au-
thorizing vegetation management on such lands. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 
Mr. SHADEGG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on 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 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
to enhance the reliability of the electricity grid and re-
duce the threat of wildfires to electric transmission and 
distribution facilities on Federal lands by authorizing 
vegetation management on such lands. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT ON FEDERAL 
LANDS 
CONTAINING 
ELECTRIC 
TRANS-
MISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Federal Land Pol-
icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 512. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT RELATING TO ELEC-
TRIC TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FA-
CILITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL DIRECTION.—In order to enhance the 
reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of 
wildfires to electric transmission and distribution facilities, 
the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands 
and other lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, 
and the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National 
Forest System lands, shall provide direction to ensure that 
existing and future authorizations of rights-of-way and 
easements for electrical transmission and distribution fa-
cilities on such lands include provisions for utility vegeta-
tion management activities that, while consistent with ap-
plicable law— 
‘‘(1) are developed in consultation with the 
holder of the right-of-way or easement; 
‘‘(2) enable the owner or operator of a facility 
to comply with Federal and State electric system re-
liability and fire safety requirements, including reli-
ability standards established by the North American 
Electric Reliability Council or the Electric Reliability 
Organization certified under section 215 of the Fed-
eral Power Act; 
‘‘(3) minimize the need for case-by-case or an-
nual approvals for— 
‘‘(A) routine vegetation management ac-
tivities within permitted electrical transmission 
corridors; and 
‘‘(B) utility vegetation management activi-
ties that are necessary to control hazard trees 
within or adjacent to electrical transmission 
corridors; 
‘‘(4) provide for expedited review, whenever re-
view is required, and expedited approval, to the max-
imum extent practicable, for utility vegetation man-
agement activities, especially activities requiring 
prompt action to avoid an adverse impact on safety 
or electric reliability. 
‘‘(b) 
INTEGRATED
VEGETATION
MANAGEMENT 
PLANS.— 
‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT
AND
SUBMISSION.—Con-
sistent with subsection (a), the Secretary of the In-
terior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide 
owners and operators of electric transmission and
distribution facilities located on lands described in 
such subsection with the option to develop and sub-
mit an integrated vegetation management plan for 
approval to the Secretary with jurisdiction over the 
lands. An integrated vegetation management plan 
shall enable the owner or operator of a facility, at 
a minimum, to comply with applicable Federal and 
State electric system reliability and fire safety re-
quirements, as provided in subsection (a)(2). The 
Secretaries shall not have the authority to modify 
those requirements. 
‘‘(2) REVIEW AND APPROVAL PROCESS.— The 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall jointly develop a consolidated and co-
ordinated process for review and approval of— 
‘‘(A) integrated vegetation management 
plans submitted under paragraph (1) that— 
‘‘(i) assures timely approval; 
‘‘(ii) is consistent with applicable law; 
and 
‘‘(iii) to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, minimizes the costs of the process 
to the reviewing agency and the person 
submitting the plan; and
‘‘(B) amendments to an integrated vegeta-
tion management plan in a timely manner in 
the event that changed conditions warrant a 
modification to a plan. 
‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—The review and approval 
process under paragraph (2) shall— 
‘‘(A) include notification by the agency of 
any changed conditions that warrant a modi-
fication to an integrated vegetation manage-
ment plan; 
‘‘(B) provide an opportunity for the owner 
or operator to submit a proposed plan amend-
ment to address directly the changed condition; 
and 
‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable, 
allow the owner or operator to continue to im-
plement those elements of the approved plan 
that do not directly and adversely affect the 
condition precipitating the need for modifica-
tion. 
‘‘(4) IMPLEMENTATION.—An approved inte-
grated vegetation management plan shall become 
part of the authorization governing the covered 
right-of-way or easement. If an integrated vegetation 
management plan is proposed for an existing trans-
mission and distribution facility concurrent with the 
siting of a new transmission or distribution facility, 
necessary reviews shall be completed as part of the 
siting process. Once the plan is approved, the owner 
or operator shall provide the agency with only a no-
tification of activities to be undertaken in the com-
ing year, a description of those activities, and certifi-
cation that the activities are in accordance with the 
plan. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 
‘integrated vegetation management plan’ means a 
plan that— 
‘‘(A) is prepared by the owner or operator 
of an electrical transmission or distribution fa-
cility to cover one or more electric transmission 
and distribution rights-of-way or easements; 
and 
‘‘(B) provides for the long-term, cost-effec-
tive, sustainable, ecosystem-based management 
of vegetation within the permitted width of the 
covered rights-of-way and easements to enhance 
electricity reliability, promote public safety, and 
avoid fire hazards. 
‘‘(c) RESPONSE
TO EMERGENCY CONDITIONS.—If 
vegetation on lands within a right-of-way or easement
granted by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 
of Agriculture does not meet clearance requirements under 
standards established by the North American Electric Re-
liability Council or the Electric Reliability Organization 
and the Secretary having jurisdiction over the lands has 
acted, or failed to act, to allow a transmission or distribu-
tion facility owner or operator to conduct vegetation man-
agement activities within three business days after receiv-
ing a request to allow such activities, the owner or oper-
ator may, after notifying the Secretary, conduct such vege-
tation management activities to meet clearance require-
ments under such standards. 
‘‘(d) LIABILITY WAIVER.— 
‘‘(1) WAIVER.—If the Secretary of the Interior 
or the Secretary of Agriculture fails to authorize a 
transmission or distribution facility owner or oper-
ator to manage vegetation within a right-of-way or 
easement on lands under the jurisdiction of the Sec-
retary in order to comply with Federal and State 
electric system reliability and fire safety require-
ments, including reliability standards established by 
the North American Electric Reliability Council or 
the Electric Reliability Organization, and the vegeta-
tion causes or contributes to wildfire damage, loss, 
or injury, the owner or operator of the facility in-
volved shall not be liable to the United States di-
rectly, through indemnification, or otherwise for 
such damage, loss, or injury, including for the cost 
of fire suppression. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The owner or operator of a 
transmission or distribution facility in a right-of-way 
or easement on lands under the jurisdiction of the 
Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall continue to be liable for a portion of 
the damages caused by a wildfire described in para-
graph (1) and the cost of fire suppression if the 
owner or operator was contributorily negligent and 
the law of the jurisdiction in which the damages or 
costs occurred applies the comparative negligence 
doctrine. 
‘‘(e) TRAINING
AND GUIDANCE.—In consultation 
with the electric utility industry, the Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the Secretary of Agriculture are encouraged to 
develop a program to train personnel of the Department 
of the Interior and the Forest Service involved in vegeta-
tion management decisions relating to transmission and 
distribution facilities to ensure that such personnel— 
‘‘(1) understand electric system reliability and 
fire safety requirements, including reliability stand-
ards established by the North American Electric Re-
liability Council or the Electric Reliability Organiza-
tion; and 
‘‘(2) assist owners and operators of trans-
mission and distribution facilities to comply with ap-
plicable electric reliability and fire safety require-
ments.’’. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall pre-
scribe regulations, or amend existing regulations, to imple-
ment section 512 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-
ment Act of 1976, as added by subsection (a). 
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